Vicki Murray, Executive Director of Safe Harbor Rescue Mission, spoke to Hickory Rotary Club today. Safe Harbor Rescue Mission offers a number of programs where women can work to rebuild their lives through immediate and long-term programs.
In 2006, the Day Shelter/Enrichment Center began serving homeless women and children and those who are placed in housing with the help of Safe Harbor. Every Monday through Friday the Mission offers spiritual needs assessment and case management; wholesome lunches and snacks; life skills classes; links to other community resources; and an opportunity to earn points for bus passes, personal care items, and clothing. The Day Shelter and Enrichment Center offers:
- Needs assessment and spiritual hope
- Wholesome lunch and snacks
- Bible study
- Life skills seminars and classes
- Clothing ministry
- Link to other community resources
- The opportunity to earn points for bus passes, personal care items, and hair care.
A van picks up women and children from the local homeless shelter in the morning and returns them in the afternoon.
In 2009, the Residential “Whole Woman” Program opened, providing a holistic approach to women on the road to recovery. This program provides the setting for a unique one-year Christian recovery/rehab program for women – the only such program available for women in Hickory or the Catawba County NC area. The goal is to provide women with the opportunity and necessary resources to heal from past wounds and resulting coping behaviors. This year long program is built up-on five key components:
- Spiritual RENEWAL
- Building healthy RELATIONSHIPS
- Lifetime RECOVERY tools
- RETRAINING the heart, mind, and body
- Access to needed RESOURCES
The “Good Friends” Transitional Program began in 2011 and offers opportunities for housing, employment enrichment, mentoring, life skills, family relationships, and giving back. A donation of a 16-unit apartment complex has made it possible for women to continue to improve their lives and well-being while pursuing economic independence. There continues to be a high level of accountability and expectation while allowing time for working through a higher level of responsibility. Good Friends is an extension for women who began in Whole Woman.
The “Greenleaf” Apartments program is geared toward providing housing for young, single mothers who seek a fresh start. Not as intensive as Whole Woman and Good Friends, Greenleaf allows for a woman to spend up to 18 months in an apartment overseen by Safe Harbor, as she seeks out what new direction her life will take next.
In 2012 our Social Enterprise, ReSource Warehouse and Gallery, opened. It is one of two creative reuse centers in North Carolina and offers a variety of benefits to the community and the Safe Harbor Mission. First, the ReSource Warehouse and Gallery is a site where companies and individuals can safely and productively discard unused business and household items. Next, it provides low-cost materials for the art and education community, as well as to members of the public who thrive on opportunities for creativity and exploration.
ReSource Warehouse is also a venue for community awareness events concerned with safely reusing products and materials and diverting materials from landfills. Finally, the site is a financial resource for Safe Harbor and provides an opportunity for the women they serve to learn job skills.
The two goals for this unique business venture are:
- Provide job skills and career experience for our residents while offsetting a portion of program expenses.
- Promote creativity, environmental awareness, and community through reuse.
To learn more about ReSource warehouse visit www.resourcewarehouse.org
To learn more about Safe Harbor, visit www.safeharborrescuemission.org or call 828-326-7233.
