SERVICE AREA & MISSION
Safehope, based in Newton, KS, provides advocacy and support to all survivors , and secondary victims of domestic and sexual violence in Harvey, Marion and McPherson counties. Safehope creates a safe environment for survivors to understand the resources and options available to them and get support as they begin to heal from the trauma. Our services are available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
We serve those who are survivor/victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and stalking at no charge. Services meet the needs not only for victims seeking emergency shelter but also for outreach victims and their families in our rural service area for crucial outreach services.
OUR MISSION
The Mission of Safehope, is to provide advocacy and support to all survivors and secondary victims of domestic and sexual violence and stalking; while seeking social change through awareness, education and prevention. From 24-hour Helpline to supportive services to professional training, we offer crisis intervention, advocacy and support; to address the needs of victims and their children.
ABOUT SAFEHOPE
Safehope, Inc., based in Newton, Kansas, provides advocacy and support to all survivors and secondary victims of domestic and sexual violence, and stalking in Harvey, Marion and McPherson counties. Safehope creates a safe environment for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to understand the resources and options available to them and get support as they begin to heal from the trauma. These services are available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Safehope provides advocacy and service to all survivors and secondary victims of domestic and sexual violence and stalking. No one will be denied services based on race, disability, color, gender, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, veteran status, family status, military status, or political affiliation.
We serve those who are survivor/victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and stalking at no charge. Services meet the needs not only for victims seeking emergency shelter but also for outreach victims and their families in our rural service area for crucial “outreach services.”
The Safe House shelter is a “safe haven” for shelter victims. To provide “crisis shelter” as the only option for victims in a rural area increases the “barriers” for them to provide safe choices; we provide outreach victims the same individual and children advocacy services as shelter victims. The goal is to provide more effective advocacy according to the victim’s needs and circumstances. Being able to find support through visiting, sharing of needs, or participating in family activities at the Safe House, has been a key empowerment tool in our rural communities.
Services include Safe House shelter, adult and child advocacy, family outreach services, advocacy in the courtroom, advocacy with Protection from Abuse and Stalking orders, hospital advocacy, on-going support groups, 24-hour Helpline and advocacy in finding community resources and referrals for all victims according to their personal needs. Victims and their children receive essential services such as case management, community resources, children resources, housing, employment, continued education, medical needs, financial budgeting, parenting, transportation, legal resources, life skills, substance abuse and basic needs. Immediate services are crucial to support victims with safe options emotionally and/or physically for the children and survivor/victim.
HISTORY
Harvey County DV/SA Task Force, Inc., also known as the “Safe House”, began when a group of concerned citizens saw a need; our program has been in existence since 1990. The shelter was donated by local physicians; it was just over 16 years ago that the first family moved into the “Safe House” shelter to find safety that was not afforded to them in their own home. A hotline had been established to give survivors a place to call for support and a group of committed community members worked tirelessly to make it a reality. The mission was to provide advocacy and services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault while encouraging social change through education. And that mission continues today.
In November of 2015, the Harvey County DV/SA Task Force, Inc. outreach offices moved in to the old Harvey County Health Department building at 316 Oak in Newton, Kansas. The board and staff are committed to the many victims and their children that we serve. Dependent on funding support, future plans will be to purchase the building on Oak Street and to remodel the existing building to house both crucial outreach services and also move the crisis shelter to 316 Oak. Prior to this time – advocates were officed in the unfinished basement of the shelter and the Harvey County Courthouse. At this time, services through the “Safe House” shelter are at risk in providing victim’s safety, critical services and stability because the demand for services through the shelter has increased tremendously this last year. Currently in our “Safe House” shelter, we have space for only 10 people to stay at the shelter; we are literally running out of room at the shelter, we now are using “bed space” on air mattresses in the shelter’ living room to provide a safe place for families during the night hours, because we are at full capacity. Plans for the new shelter at Oak Street will provide up 30 beds for families in need of shelter.
CHANGES IN 2016
New service area for the program is Harvey, Marion and McPherson counties. With these changes – there was a need for a new agency name and logo from Harvey County DV/SA Task Force, Inc. to Safehope, Inc. effective November 01, 2016.
Effective May, 2016 – the Board of Directors of both Harvey County DV/SA Task Force and the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center (SA/DVC) of Hutchison agreed that domestic violence and sexual assault services in McPherson and Marion counties will be provided by the Harvey County DV/SA Task Force program. After discussion and review, both organizations believe that victims and their families would be better served by moving these two counties to the Harvey County program’s service area.
With the acquisition of DV/SA victim’ service area of Marion and McPherson Counties – there is an increase of 54% in population served for our program. To assure that the transition of services is smooth and the communities in these counties are made aware of program services, it will be necessary for the program to make many changes to respond to victim services in those counties.
When statistics show that “Three out of five victims do not know where to go to receive services (“Domestic Violence Victim Services: Awareness, Use and Satisfaction Project,” by the Docking Institute for Public Affairs and the Governor’s Grants Program, 2007)- our program is committed to seek ways to increase accessibility and make changes to respond effectively. The outreach offices in Harvey, Marion and McPherson counties provide confidential locations for services and activities that are necessary and essential to provide increased access the rural victim/survivors.
It is estimated that since the beginning of the agency, we have provided services to over 20,000 survivors in our service area. The families that the Safehope serves are our families, our neighbors and our friends and part of our community. For those families we serve, it is crucial for their community and people like you to take a stand in support of them, to offer your time, physical support, financial support and to hold the batterer accountable. Our stories of abuse, trauma, courage and ultimately, survival comprise the foundation that we build on today. We must never forget those who have gone before us and forged a path in unchartered territories; the generous community members who supported this agency with their time and their finances, brave survivors who reached out a hand to find safety and compassion and sought the safety offered, the courageous advocates and volunteers who stood up with survivors and challenged the norms and pushed our thinking forward, and the strong people, who made the commitment to continue the work that began over 26 years ago.