After touring Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support (ACCESS) facilities in Ames Wednesday morning, U.S. House Representative Leonard Boswell said he would help the program’s cause in any way possible.

The congressman, who is seeking reelection for the Iowa Third District House seat, took a 45-minute tour of the office building and shelter.

“When I was in the Vietnam War, we lost as many people during the whole thing as is lost to domestic violence every five years,” Boswell said. “It just makes you think, ‘Oh my God.’

“This is something that people aren’t comfortable talking about, but I think it is very important,” he said.

The tour began at the ACCESS office building located downtown at 314 1/2 Main St. Boswell discussed the ACCESS program with several of the individuals involved with its daily operation.

Julie Devall McElroy, executive director of ACCESS, said ACCESS’s current office space is better than their previous facility or having no facility at all.

“We were renting the space below this, but we could get this area for less money and have room for private counseling,” McElroy said. “Before when a person would come in very emotional, we would only have the facilities for group therapy, so it’s nice to have that separate room now.”

Story County Attorney Mary Richards also was present and agreed with McElroy that the office space was an asset to the shelter.

“It’s so much nicer having a physical place where people can contact you,” Richards said.

Although the office was a helpful addition to the program, McElroy said it would be the first thing to go if funding were cut.

“I’ll bet you keep this,” Boswell said. “It works really well.”

McElroy said the financial support that the program was receiving from the community was wonderful and allowed ACCESS to be one of the model crisis intervention programs in the state.

“Most counties have one advocate working with their programs, and Story County has about 10 and a half,” she said.

Two members of the Sexual Assault Response Team program, Chuck Cychosz and Patricia Harvey, coordinated the tour of the ACCESS shelter.

McElroy briefed the members of the tour on what they would be seeing when they went to the shelter portion of the ACCESS project and reminded everyone to remain tactful. She also said the location of the shelter must remain secret to protect the women and children currently housed there.

When he arrived at the house, Boswell was led from room to room by McElroy. The house was fully outfitted with furnishings, a kitchen, a living room, several upstairs bedrooms and a counseling room.

Boswell spoke with one of the six women being housed in the shelter and also shook hands and chatted with several of the 10 children living in the house.

After the tour, Boswell said he would provide complete support in whatever way he could for the ACCESS program.

“It’s a problem here and a problem everywhere, and I appreciate what you’ve done here,” he said. “You seem to be doing a lot with what you’ve got to work with.

“If there is something I can do, just give us a call,” he said. “You know I will be supportive.”