URBANA--The state owes A Woman's Place in Urbana 100,00 dollars. 10 employees lost their jobs there Wednesday. The ones left haven't been paid in weeks because the shelter can't afford to pay them. The next move could be closings its doors for good. If that happens, battered women could cross paths with their abusers again. I spent Wednesday afternoon with one woman who turned to the shelter just days ago for help. We're not showing her face or giving her name to protect her identity.

"At one point, he even handcuffed me to the headboard so that I could not leave the house when he left," said the 43 year-old. She managed to set herself free to A Woman's Place Sunday after months of abuse. It's become her safe haven from her boyfriend's raging violence. "One time he shoved me down a flight of stairs and almost broke my ankle," she said. "If I refused sex, he would force it on me."

A Woman's Place has given her shelter, emotional support and a means to pay for her diabetes medicine. A backlog in state payments could take that all away from her and the roughly 40 people a day the non-profit serves. "Having to turn people away, not being able to provide counseling, support groups, and resources for people, that's what we're here to do," said counselor Tara Bossert. "If we can't provide services that we're supposed to, what good are we really?" "I would be sleeping on the streets wherever I could find a spot to sleep," added the victim. The six employees left working at the shelter fear that could happen in a matter of weeks if the state doesn't fork over funding fast. That could put victims of domestic abuse back on the destructive path they fought so hard to leave. "I also worry that I'd be stupid enough to fall back in with him because I haven't had the time to heal to make myself strong enough to realize that hey there's better out there that I don't need to go back to that," said our interviewee.

The shelter's executive director says the state told her A Woman's Place is at the top of the list for funding. It will get money, but when and how much are still in question.