cityCURRENT | Safe Haven Family Shelter – Advocate for Families, Allowing Them to Stay Together

Host Jeremy C. Park talks with Joyce Lavery, CEO of Safe Haven, who discusses the nonprofit’s mission to lead our community’s effort to house, support, empower, and advocate for families experiencing homelessness. For more than 36 years, Safe Haven has served as the premier shelter-to-housing program in Middle Tennessee that accommodates families experiencing homelessness. Transformative services focused on housing and employment provide families with the resources to become self-sufficient and successful. During the interview, Lavery highlights their programs and services, what success looks like, how the pandemic has impacted their efforts, how the community can help, and more.

Our mission is to lead our community’s effort to house, support, empower, and advocate for families experiencing homelessness. For 36 years, Safe Haven has served as the premier shelter-to-housing program in Middle Tennessee that accommodates families experiencing homelessness. Safe Haven leads our community’s efforts to house, support, empower and advocate for families, allowing them to stay together. Transformative services focused on housing and employment provide families with the resources to become self-sufficient and successful.

Our housing first model, coupled with wrap around services is designed to give families the necessary tools to achieve lasting self-sufficiency, stable employment and secured housing.

In addition to housing families, Safe Haven provides assistance with seeking employment, educational/enrichment resources for children and connects families to resources to meet other essential needs.
Safe Haven can serve up to 90 families at a time through prevention, shelter and housing programs.
Safe Haven keeps families together and accepts couples with children, single parent families and multi- generational families with children up to 18 years of age.
In a challenging year, Safe Haven served 370 families and housed 120 families in 2020.
Families facing homelessness are especially vulnerable during this time, and, together we can help Safe Haven continue to house, support, empower and advocate for them.

HEARTS FOR HOMES: Hearts for Homes is Safe Haven’s affordable housing program for families experiencing homelessness. Through Hearts for Homes, Safe Haven is able to provide the following for families: case management, workforce development, financial literacy, children’s education/enrichment programs, tenant readiness and assistance in obtaining affordable housing. These services are provided for up to a year, with partnerships that support the extension of services if needed.

SAFE HAVEN NEEDS: Currently, Safe Haven is providing more services and financial assistance to house families, and community support is needed to ensure we can give families a place to call home. Please click here to see a detailed list of our most urgent needs online.

SAFE HAVEN EVENTS: