P.O. Box 234
Welch, WV 24801

Phone: (304) 436-6181
Fax: (304) 436-6528

safewalden@yahoo.comwww.safewv.org

HISTORY

Over twenty years ago in McDowell County, West Virginia, an abused woman running for her life had few choices. The nearest shelter was nearly 100 miles away in Lewisburg. In March of 1981, seven McDowell County community activists came together to change the situation. In September, the group formed Stop Abusive Family Environments (S.A.F.E.).

In its first months, S.A.F.E. was organized as a shelter, with plans to train advocates to help domestic violence victims find their way through the complicated and often intimidating justice system. In 1982 another non-profit opened the Women’s Resource Center in Beckley (about 100 miles from S.A.F.E.’s headquarters in Welch). Since S.A.F.E. did not have its own facility to serve domestic violence victims at the time, the organization shifted its efforts toward providing transportation to the shelter and advocacy services.

In November of 1984, S.A.F.E. opened an outreach office in McDowell County. Its services included helping clients file domestic violence petitions for protection from abuse; attending court hearings for advocacy and support; transporting clients to and from the shelter in Beckley; and referring them to a lawyer when needed. S.A.F.E. also worked to educate the community through presentations in churches and on radio and television.

By 1991, S.A.F.E. had opened an outreach office in Wyoming County and was providing GED tutoring, parenting and life skills training, literacy tutoring, and one-on-one support sessions and support groups for domestic violence victims. In January of 1997, S.A.F.E. opened its own transitional housing facility for domestic violence victims and homeless women and children.