Our First Year In Review
Safe Haven opened its doors one year ago, and despite a grand opening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've had an amazing first year. We would like to take time to reflect on the progress we’ve made towards bringing healing and hope to women in crisis in our community.
In March we received an $18K grant from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to transition homeless individuals into permanent housing. The funds were quickly used to provide short-term emergency shelter and rental and utility assistance to individuals and families all over Johnson County. In this year of business closures and unemployment, we have been grateful to be able to serve our community in this way.
When we first opened, we were only equipped to run a small day program. Now, in addition, we have a full-time house manager as well as a bustling residential program (which will soon be tripling in size). We were shocked by the great need for a women’s residential facility in Johnson County and are overjoyed that we were so quickly able to meet the need.
Overall we received over 300 emergency calls from individuals in crisis in our community, a startling statistic considering the majority of the crisis situations came from Clarksville, which has a smaller community of 9,601 individuals.
Despite the looming threat of COVID-19, we were able to keep our doors open during the pandemic and expand our services. So we say boldly to year two, “Welcome,” as we look toward the future and renew our commitment to bring healing and recovery to Johnson County.
Sharon Garrett - Executive Director