Who We Are
Safehome Systems, Inc., (Safehome) is a private not for profit organization with a 501(C ) (3) status, that has been serving families in the Alleghany Highlands since 1987. The agency provides advocacy and support services to survivors of domestic, dating and sexual violence. We provide services to women, children and men that are experiencing this kind of violence. These services include a 24-hour crisis hotline; emergency shelter; individual and group counseling; legal advocacy; public awareness and education presentations. Safehome started, in 1987, as a grassroots effort to provide shelter to victims of domestic violence. Volunteers provided their personal homes for women and children to stay. As the program grew, there were concerns for the safety of victim and volunteers and it was clear that a dedicated home, with intensive services, would be needed.
In 1990, the first official shelter was purchased on Main Street in Covington. Due to the age of the home and foundation issues, an 18-bed shelter was purchased in 1997 through the generosity of the Alleghany Foundation. At that time, services became available to sexual violence survivors as well. Our shelter since then has been transformed into a 12-bed shelter with a handicap assessible room to ensure support for all survivors.
Our mission is to: empower and advocate for victims and survivors of domestic, dating and sexual violence and to work towards a violence-free community.
Our services are always free and confidential. Safehome’s provides an emergency shelter equipped with 18 beds. This shelter for victims is a very important part of our mission, to provide safety for these survivors that reach out to us, however, we do offer many more services to the communities we serve. Last year (July 1, 2016-June30, 2017), we provided emergency shelter to 78 survivors of domestic and sexual violence and we able to provide advocacy and support to over 1,450 survivors in our community. That could mean providing crisis intervention one time over the phone or intensive services long term.
A few facts about Safehome:
- Safehome operates 24/7 hotline for victims of domestic, sexual and dating violence.
- We provide counseling support for adults and children survivors.
- Safehome also provides court advocacy, information and referral services for those going through the criminal justice system.
- We provide educational programs in the local school systems, churches, businesses, civic groups and outreach events to educate the community on how they can help a survivor while providing awareness of domestic and sexual violence.
- Safehome’s services are free and confidential for anyone who is in need of support with domestic, sexual or dating violence.
