NEWARK -- Standing outside the new women's center bearing his late sister's name, Mayor Ras Baraka exhaled deeply, tears sliding down his face.

Here was a place women facing domestic violence or abuse could come to for help. Here was a center that could save a life -- and maybe a community. Here was a building named after his younger sister Shani Baraka, who was fatally shot by her older sister's estranged and abusive husband.

"The most vulnerable amongst us will finally get help," Baraka said Friday as his brothers stood behind him. "We did it, we kept our promise and it's only fitting that it bears the name Shani Baraka."

Once an abandoned lot, the 12,000 square-foot Shani Baraka Women's Resource Center on 300 Clinton Avenue in the South Ward will operate as a one-stop shop for women in need of emergency services like counseling, mental health services, shelter or job training. The police department will also relocate its Special Victims Unit and Domestic Violence Response Team.

Baraka said he insisted the neglected space be transformed into a place for women suffering in the city with no place to go.

"No matter what food you eat, what language you speak, the clothes you put on your back ... we are serving everyone in this community, whether you gay or straight," Baraka said. "This is not the Baraka family building, this is the Newark community building."

Mayor @rasjbaraka opens @CityofNewarkNJ's new women's center named after his late sister: the Shani Baraka Women's Resource Center pic.twitter.com/z97ZzOfQDw — Karen Yi (@karen_yi) May 12, 2017

Members of the Newark City Council and more than a hundred supporters gathered along Clinton Avenue for the grand opening -- some survivors of domestic violence themselves.

"It means that we're being recognized," said Christina Bright, 28, who said she survived an abusive relationship five years ago. "To have a huge building on Clinton Avenue in Newark and not downtown, it means that there's an open door policy, you walk by and it looks inviting. I feel like we're not being overlooked."

"The resources here will be able to help other young women in various ways to improve their quality of life," South Ward Councilman John Sharpe James said.

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said 10 percent of last year's 93 homicides were related to domestic violence incidents. He said victims of abuse could come to the center to report a crime and stay in the same building to receive the services they need.

'This right here is going to help somebody'

Inside the building's white clean walls, photos of Shani Baraka emanate from frames. A wall-sized mural of Baraka and her longtime partner, Rayshon Holmes, is painted inside another room. Holmes was also killed in 2003 when the estranged husband of Baraka's half-sister entered his wife's Piscataway home, and upon finding Baraka and Holmes, fatally shot them.

"It gives me hope that women can make it because this right here is going to help somebody ... and bring hope to a community, to what people thought was a dying community," said Sandra Holmes, Rayshon's mother.

Holmes, 60, looked through the center's large window that looked out into the Stratford Apartments where she raised her kids. "Them girls loved life," she said as she showed a reporter old photographs of Rayshon and Shani. Holmes said she'd be at the center as often as she could to make sure it succeeded.

Obalaji Baraka, 49, the eldest brother, said Shani Baraka was active in the community and her name can make women feel more comfortable when coming to seek help.

"I believe it's easier now because they have a name of a building that they recognize," he said. "They can relate now, they can feel comfortable ... and if we stop one it's better than none."

Mayor Baraka said Shani wasn't just his sister.

"Shani was a mentor, a teacher, the kids loved her, she was a basketball coach. She was a community person, she loved this city, she was a role model, she was an example in this community," Baraka said. "Even in her death, she is being helpful in the community still."

The center will offer health care services, support groups, financial literacy and parenting classes. Organizations like Wynona's House, Planned Parenthood, United Way and the Association of Black Psychologists will provide supportive services.

"It's going to be a testament to the idea that our community is coming alive," Baraka said. "Now I get to drive past here every day and see her name on the building."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.