Safe Place

                                                          

In response to the rising number of homeless and at-risk youth in Vanderburgh County, Hillcrest is expanding their services to include an outreach program using the nationally recognized model, Project Safe Place.

About Safe Place
National Safe Place is an outreach and prevention program that is uniquely designed to provide immediate safety and access to services for youth between the ages of 12 to 17 years old who are in need. In partnership with over 360 youth serving agencies and over 17,000 businesses and community organizations across the United States, the Safe Place program educates youth about alternatives to running away and homelessness and provides easily accessible links to service providers.

How the Program Works
The mission of Safe Place is to provide immediate help and supportive services to young people in crisis through a network of business and public locations. Many youth do not know where to seek help and remain in unsafe and chaotic situations. Safe Place partners with fast food restaurants, convenience stores, fire departments, and other public entities that are kid friendly to display the Safe Place logo which indicates they are an access point to youth seeking help.

When a youth asks for help at a Safe Place site, Hillcrest immediately dispatches a counselor to meet with the youth. If counseling or residential assistance is needed, the youth is transported to Hillcrest where staff will determine and facilitate the help needed. Safe Place is a way to reach young people while they are still in the early stages of crisis, hopefully preventing serious problems from becoming worse.

Safe Place Sites
Hillcrest has partnered with the following organization in our community to offer Safe Place sites for youth:

Evansville Fire Department

  • All of the fire stations are currently undergoing Safe Place site training. As each fire station completes training, their address will be posted to our site.

YMCA

  • Downtown – 222 NW 6th St.
  • Dunigan – 6846 Oak Grove Rd.
  • Caldwell – 1930 S. Garvin St.

Boys and Girls Club

  • 700 Bellemeade Ave.
  • Fulton Square Center - 1328 Dresden St.

ECHO Housing Corporation

  • 414 Baker Ave.

Youth Service Bureau

  • Delaware Center - 734 W. Delaware St.

TXT 4 Help
Another component of the Safe Place program is Text 4 Help. When a youth is in immediate need and does not know where the closest Safe Place site may be located, they can use the utilize TXT 4 Help. This element of the program uses technology to quickly help teens find a Safe Place site. Youth simply text the word SAFE to 69866 and the youth will receive a return text that tells them the nearest Safe Place site and Hillcrest’s 24 hour phone number.

Learn More about Safe Place
We would like the opportunity to tell you more about our local Safe Place program. For more information on how you can become a Safe Place site or to schedule a presentation please contact Hillcrest at 812.428.0698 or safeplace@hillcrestyouthhome.org.

To view our bi-monthly Safe Place News Newsletter, click here.