Cave Junction, Ore. — A Cave Junction pregnancy center broken into, vandalized, and stolen from. The Pregnancy Center of the Illinois Valley hadn’t been able to check on its facilities last week because of heavy snow. So when the interim director got a call from a neighboring business, about an open door at the center, she knew something was wrong.
“There was an on-demand water heater on that wall,” said Dolly Newton, interim director of the Pregnancy Center of the Illinois Valley.
A water heater pipe, that was stolen Thursday morning. The thieves also broke the toilet bowl, cracked one of the windows, and trashed the place.
“Food, all kinds of garbage scattered throughout the building,” she said.
But that’s not all.
“Tore off all that pipes and plumbing. And flooded the whole building,” she said.
An entire building – drowned and saturated.
“Just unnecessary vandalism,” she said.
The pregnancy center moved into a larger building next door in 2015. That building is no stranger to crime either.
“We were really thankful to get the front building. We have also had people break into that building as well,” she said.
A pattern that has Newton aggravated.
“It’s discouraging when you’re trying to help the community and then they come in and destroy things,” she said.
But after 12 years working for the center… 10 of those on a volunteer basis. Newton isn’t letting these incidents affect her.
“You can’t just give up. Every community has their downfalls, they have their problems. You can’t just give up because something has happened. Just pick up the pieces and keep going,” she said.
The center is currently getting estimates for how much it will cost to repair the damage. From there, they’ll meet as a board to determine how they can come up with the money.
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