Our Commitment to Serving Survivors

Updates on Programs and Services Operations at SafeHouse Center Issued by Kimberli Montgomery, Interim Executive Director

SafeHouse Center remains committed to its mission of providing safety, support, advocacy, and resources for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and their children, and working relentlessly to change the systems and attitudes that allow this abuse to continue.  We wish to assure the community that this commitment continues, as it has over the past 45 years, and we seek to assuage any concerns to the contrary.

For the period of October 12 through October 20, 2021, SafeHouse Center provided the following support:

• Sheltered residents – six adults and five children 
• Calls answered on our 24-Hour Helpline – 138 
• Survivors receiving one-on-one counseling – 22 
• Survivors who attended one of our support groups – 17 
• Survivors who were assisted in navigating the legal system which included an SHC advocate attending  a court hearing and/or providing information on legal processes – 123 
• SHC advocate responses to an emergency call: 
  • Survivor coming to our door needing help (walk-in) – 3 
  • Police call – 40 
  • Hospital call – 8 
  • Jail releases of a perpetrator – 45 
• Survivors needing help with a Personal Protection Order (PPO) – 19 

It should be noted that SafeHouse Center, like many organizations at this time, has been challenged to find qualified staff. This is particularly difficult when staff must be fully trained in support of a 24-hour program such as ours. For these reasons, we made the difficult decision to temporarily limit the number of residents we are able to shelter, so that we may ensure proper care and support are provided for those in our care. Despite this, we continue to assist survivors in multiple other ways listed above, and we are working hard to hire and train advocates as quickly as possible.

As our organization reflects on the needs of survivors and prepares to meet challenges with a renewed determination to continue to provide exceptional services, we appreciate your support. Domestic violence and sexual assault affect everyone in our community and it will take all of us working together to build a community free of domestic violence and sexual assault. 

We are open. We are listening. And, most of all we are providing help to survivors.