Safety, Hope & Healing:
The Campaign for Safe Passage
Perhaps you’ve been there, or someone you know has…
Your partner’s abuse – verbal, threatening, controlling and emotionally devastating – has escalated to physical violence.
You’ve begun to fear for your personal safety – even for your life.
You share your story with family and friends, but they don’t believe you.
What would the promise of trust and safety, of being believed – for the first time – be worth?
Your partner is controlling access to the bank accounts and credit cards, housing, healthcare – even your cell phone.
What would the promise of independence – including financial independence – be worth?
Maybe you are further marginalized by your immigration status, language, disability, religion, or gender identity.
What would the promise of someone understanding the fullness of your experience be worth?
You think about your kids.
They’re witnesses to so much conflict and scary behavior from someone who is supposed to make them feel safe.
Can you try one more time to convince the kids that everything is okay?
What would the promise of a stable, happy future be worth? A life where you and your kids could not just survive but thrive?
Your support has made so much possible
At Safe Passage we work every day for safety, hope and healing for adults and children experiencing violence in Hampshire County and the neighboring Hilltowns.
Through counseling, shelter, advocacy, community education and prevention, Safe Passage has been pursuing this mission since our founding 42 years ago.
Our work has evolved over decades, inspired by our commitment to understand and combat the root causes and impacts of domestic violence. Our expertise not only supports survivors but also empowers members of our community to prevent domestic violence in the future.
We used to tell our clients, “Here is what we have to offer you.” Now, we ask “How can we help?”
Because of your generosity, Safe Passage has been able to help clients build a set of solutions to address their unique life circumstances.
- You’ve helped us expand our capacity to meet the needs of more gender-diverse survivors and families.
- You’ve strengthened our ability to work with increasingly vulnerable communities, including immigrants and refugees.
- You’ve supported our services to empower survivors to reverse the often-devastating economic impact of abuse.
- You’ve made possible our violence prevention programming - involving more members of our community in confronting the systemic causes of domestic violence.
A new home for Safe Passage
As we expanded our services to clients, our facilities became strained to the limit, and we were forced to move core staff into a separate building in order to accommodate our growth. At the same time growing community support helped us realize that we did not have to allow something fixable – like a lack of adequate, appropriate facilities – to stand in the way of doing right, of doing better for the people we serve and the people committed to serving them.
Our mission demanded – and our community deserved – a long-term solution to our space needs; a space designed to sustain our promise to clients and support our staff and volunteers.
In the spring of 2017, we identified a local property that met our requirements. Recognizing the opportunity and the urgency of the moment, we decided to act. We closed on the purchase of a former medical building at 76 Carlon Drive in Northampton in December 2017, began renovations in January, and moved in on July 1, 2018.
What our New Building Makes Possible
- For LBGTQ+, gender non-conforming and non-binary survivors – new space for new programming designed to meet their needs
- A secure, client-only internal waiting area designed for privacy and comfort with a play area for children; and a separate waiting area for other visitors
- For children - new, dedicated rooms especially designed with kids’ needs in mind for play, art and counseling
- Additional office space means that we can hire staff to fully meet current and future client needs
- A custom-designed state-of-the-art security system to ensure client and staff safety
A SUNDAY MORNING IN DECEMBER...
6,300 People Standing Together Against Violence
The Hot Chocolate Run began in 2004 when some concerned friends of Safe Passage offered to help fundraise in response to state funding cuts. In December 2018, with 6,300 participants and volunteers, our community contributed $628,000 – more than 100 times the total raised by that first run.
The unprecedented level of support from Hot Chocolate Run participants, fundraisers, donors and sponsors has inspired Safe Passage to think bigger, to be more future-oriented and not be limited by the unpredictability of public funding. This powerful partnership with our community has created a fundamental shift in our approach to our work with the people we serve.
Thanks to generous friends like you, the Hot Chocolate Run has become the source of vital annual funding for us to expand and improve the WHAT and HOW we do our work at Safe Passage. The Campaign for Safe Passage is about creating a place WHERE we can better serve the people who will depend on us in the decades to come.
You’ve been there for survivors. That’s why we’re asking for your support to help us achieve our campaign goal.
You have changed the lives of survivors of violence through your support and donations to Safe Passage. Now, we’re inviting you to help create a vibrant and sustainable future for Safe Passage – to ensure life-changing support for survivors of domestic violence for decades to come.
We’ve set an ambitious but reachable goal: to raise $1,000,000 in pledges and gifts by summer 2019. And with early leadership support from Safe Passage supporters like you, we’ve already reached 75% of our goal. With your contribution, we will be able to offset the costs of purchasing, renovating, and furnishing our new home. Your gift to the campaign will allow us to reduce our facility-related expenses which will free up more dollars for programs and services to help us fulfill our promise to survivors today and into the future.
Give Now
Your gift will offer a message of hope to a diverse group of community members as they face their lives' most vulnerable moments. Each of their individual stories will vary. But all of them – when they come through our new doors – will find a safe and warm welcome at Safe Passage because of you.