Since 1985, The Wellspring's SAFE Shelter for Survivors of Domestic Violence has been a safe place for thousands of individuals and their children to escape violent relationships--relationships that shape their perceptions of themselves and of the world around them.The shelter, called SAFE Haven (Secure and Friendly Environment), a House of Hope, is available for persons and their children who are in immediate danger from their abuser. Their location must be kept secret, to protect them and our staff who work there. Most of the murders in our area are domestic violence related, committed by batterers who kill their spouses or boyfriends or girlfriends. If the location of the shelter were common knowledge, it could not be used as it is now. Those who know its location have a legal, ethical, and moral responsibility to not disclose the location. Lives depend on it.
By the way, SAFE Haven is a comfortable place with a home-like atmosphere. It has room for 22 persons. Over the course of a year, we typically house about 250 women and children. Those who arrive at the shelter often come with nothing but the clothes they and their children are wearing. Some arrive with a garbage bag filled with clothes and a few toys for their children. A few come with suitcases. Some come with tattered, bloodstained clothing, all that they have left after a vicious assault by their abuser.
Residents receive a wide range of services for themselves and their children to help them recover from the trauma of abuse, plan for what will come next in their lives, and to prepare to live independently.
After receiving services at the shelter, many residents move on to transitional housing, an apartment where they may live while they get back on their feet and are living independently again.