The Children’s Cabinet recognizes National Safe Place week beginning March 17 through 24, 2019 with outreach activities:
[The below activities are open to the public and local youth are encouraged to attend.]
Wednesday, March 20 – 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Roller Kingdom
515 E 7th St, Reno, NV
Safe Place swag bags for the first 100 youth
Thursday, March 21 – 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Fly High Trampoline Park
10 Greg St, Sparks, NV
Safe Place swag bags for the first 50 youth
The Children’s Cabinet will also be handing out Safe Place materials, hygiene kits, and other necessities at homeless sites and Safe Place partner locations throughout the week.
The Children’s Cabinet helps over 300 local youth through Safe Place and related runaway and homeless youth services each year. And, the street and school outreach team reaches an additional 13,000 youth by giving presentations, distributing resources and information, or talking one-on-one. Project Safe Place is a national program that provides teens in crisis with safe, temporary shelter to escape dangerous situations or homelessness.
Since 2003, The Children’s Cabinet has provided the program for youth ages 12-17 in Washoe County with a toll-free number that youth can call or text 24 hours a day, if they feel their safety is threatened at home, school, or in the community. A Children’s Cabinet case manager responds immediately, day or night, meeting the teen in person, providing shelter if necessary, and then assisting with family counseling and case management. Project Safe Place in Washoe County also maintains a growing network of over 65 local businesses, including McDonald’s restaurants, retail stores, restaurants, the entire fleet of RTC buses, and more, that are trained to receive youth and to contact The Children’s Cabinet immediately.
“The Children’s Cabinet and National Safe Place both focus on keeping youth safe and providing an option for young people who feel they have nowhere to turn,” says Kimberly Hargrove, Safe Place program director. “National Safe Place week is a great way to bring awareness to the program, connect with local youth, and help The Children’s Cabinet recruit new businesses who would like to become Safe Place locations. “
Safe Place consists of a national network of more than 21,000 partnering businesses and community locations, such as fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, fire stations, public buses and libraries, which display the Safe Place sign in their windows. In addition to Safe Place sites, youth may also access immediate help via TXT 4 HELP, a text-for support service for youth in crisis. Teens can text the word “safe” and their current location (address, city, state) to 4HELP (44357) to receive a message with the closest Safe Place location and the number for the local youth shelter. Users also have the option to text interactively with a counselor for more help.
