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National Safe Place Week: March 19-25, 2023

Haven House Services is celebrating National Safe Place Week in the third week of March. Our hope is to increase awareness of the Safe Place program, build community support for Safe Place partners, and recognize our Safe Place supporters. To learn more about Safe Place and our role visit https://www.nationalsafeplace.org/. 

Safe Place is an outreach and prevention program that helps youth in crisis. Haven House partners with over 100 Safe Place sites all across the county.  Any place with the Safe Place sign displayed is a place where youth can get immediate attention to their needs. Places like libraries, fire stations, public buses, all provide a safe place for youth. When a youth is in crisis, they can go in any place with the universal black and yellow sign and get help. Most of the Safe Places serve youth from ages 12 to 17, but some serve older or younger youth. To learn more, visit: www.nationalsafeplace.org/what-is-safe-place. 

Haven House Services is the Safe Place Coordinator for agencies in Wake County. We collaborate with other organizations to ensure safety for the youth in our community who are in crisis situations. Wrenn House, our shelter in downtown Raleigh, serves as the designated Safe Place Location in Wake County. We partner with more than 100 other organizations who display the Safe Place sign. Any youth that needs immediate help or safety can contact any Safe Place agency and they will be redirected to Wrenn House.  

How does Safe Place work? The following information is taken from the National Safe Place website: 

• Step One– A young person enters a Safe Place location and asks for help. 
• Step Two– The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. 
• Step Three – Within 30 minutes, a qualified Safe Place volunteer or agency staff member will arrive to talk with the youth and, if necessary, provide transportation to the agency. 
• Step Four– Once at the agency, counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff make sure the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need. 

Youth can also receive help by using “TXT 4 HELP,” a nationwide 24/7 support service for teens in crisis. Text the word “safe” and your current location (city, state, zip) to 4HELP (44357). Within seconds, you will receive a message with the closest Safe Place site and phone number for the local youth agency. For immediate help, reply with “2chat” to text interactively with a trained counselor.  

To learn more about Safe Place or how you can get involved, visit https://www.nationalsafeplace.org/. If you are interested in becoming a Safe Place site in Wake County or would like to learn more about how Haven House Services helps, please contact Kassi Dadufalza, Wrenn House Director, at kdadufalza@havenhousenc.org.