Achi news desk-
An anonymous donation of $1 million will help additional girls and women at risk through the Safe Haven Foundation.
This funding will help with the organisation’s aim to renovate Harbor Haven, a shelter where four women currently live, allowing them to take in a total of nine women.
For nearly 25 years, the organization has been offering a healthy and loving environment for homeless and at-risk girls and women, between the ages of 14 and 24 who do not have child welfare status.
“Haven’s Way provides the basics of food, clothing and shelter, but also broader support such as education, health care, trauma counseling and life skills including career planning,” the foundation said in a news release.
“To date, more than 100 women have called Haven’s Way home, with an average length of stay of two and a half years.”
The foundation explains that Harbor Haven will provide ongoing housing and life support for young people who graduate from Haven’s Way.
“With Harbor Haven, we can not only get these girls off the streets, but we can support them as they learn to live independently and get a post-secondary education, keeping them off the streets permanently,” said the founder of Safe Haven, president and CEO Karen Sherbut, with program participants paying less than 50 percent of market rent.
Young women in the Milford Harbor program have their own space in the building owned by the organization, and can access the community hub, which includes study spaces, a cultural center, a gym and a full kitchen.
The foundation is still aiming to raise $600,000 to complete the Harbor Haven project.
