Safety Net for Youth
Check out National Safe Place's Blog site for news from around the country on homelessness among teens and what states are doing to combat it. http://www.nationalsafeplace.org/blog/blog_posts.php?tid=8
Safe Place Program
Who:
Any youth under the age of 18 in Erie County who feels s/he needs a Safe Place to get help with a problem with their current living situation, or other crisis in his/her life, that might lead him/her to runaway, or become homeless, can benefit from Safe Place.
What:
Safe Place began in Louisville, Kentucky in 1983 as an outreach effort of the YMCA Center for Youth Alternatives. The Safe Place program began in response to the many calls to the shelter from young people who did not have a way to get there. As a result, many youth trying to cope with personal or family crisis situations never reached the shelter. To address this issue, Project Safe Place was developed, designating businesses and community buildings as locations where youth could easily access help. Its’ success has prompted the implementation of this youth shelter outreach program in 714 communities throughout the United States.
Where:
All 30 Tops Markets in Erie County, as well as each NFTA bus are presently on board as Safe Place Sites in Erie County. To get help, all a youth has to do is to go to any store, or NFTA bus and say they need a Safe Place.
Each Safe Place site will link the youth in crisis to Compass House where trained counselors will assist each youth determine the best course of action. Our programs are designed to provide shelter and support to youth who are runaways, homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless through our Emergency Shelter and our Resource Center.
When:
Safe Place services are available to provide immediate access to shelter and services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Why:
A youth in crisis often doesn’t know where to turn to get the help s/he needs to solve what often feels like insurmountable problems. By coming to a Safe Place site, each youth will receive immediate help from people trained to keep them safe and who are able to link them to the help and services s/he needs to resolve his/her crisis.
How:
Through an extensive community awareness campaign:
- Youth throughout Erie County will learn that Safe Place sites will be able to provide immediate access to help when they are in a crisis situation.
- Caring adults will be aware of the need for volunteers to facilitate linkage and provide transportation to Compass House.
- Youth serving organizations will be able to provide immediate access to crisis services for the youth involved within their organizations to help them address and work through their crisis situations.
Safe Place Program
To become a Safe Place volunteer, click here.
Safe Place Sites
Any youth under the age of 18 will be able to go to a Project Safe Place site to access immediate help and support. Trained staff at each site will follow a strict protocol that will enable them to access immediate help for the youth at their site. Each site will utilize the professionally trained counselors at the Compass House Emergency Shelter, as well as trained volunteers, to provide assistance to each youth.
For a training video on becoming a Safe Place site, copy and paste this link into your browser. mms://mediastream.buffalo.edu/content/mgt/UnitedWay/CH-SafePlaceSiteTrain.wmv
Project Safe Place in Erie County is being implemented through the generosity of The John R. Oishei Foundation, who provided a three-year implementation grant of $190,000. Additional funding for Safe Place has been provided by: The Peter C. Cornell Foundation, The Josephine Goodyear Foundation, The Children’s Foundation, The M & T Charitable Foundation, The Zemsky Junior Board, Wilson Greatbatch, and Absolutegoo.com
National Safe Place: http://www.nationalsafeplace.org/
