March Nonprofit: Safe Homes
/By Dani Babineau
Note: While the taproom is closed during the COVID-19 crisis, customers can donate to Safe Homes online at https://www.redemptionrock.beer/beercurbside.
The term “safe space” is the butt of a lot of jokes nowadays, but the concept is an obvious and deeply human one: people deserve to feel safe, validated, and loved. And when they’re not, it’s a problem.
Sometimes, it’s just a matter of simple empathy. For example, we put hooks under the bar and tampons in our bathrooms to let women know they’re welcome, and we display Pride flags to let LGBTQ+ folks know they’re welcome, too. Small gestures that go a long way.
But for others, particularly young and impressionable people, a “safe space” is a crucial and fundamental need, and the lack of one can have devastating consequences. And that’s the challenge that our March nonprofit, Safe Homes, works incredibly hard to address.
Safe Homes provides support to LGBTQ youth who need it, ensuring that they are safe, protected, nurtured, and validated. As you’ll read below, the services they provide to these young people literally saves lives.
We spoke with Laura Farnsworth, Safe Homes Program Manager, about the importance of their work and the services they provide.
What’s the mission of Safe Homes and what does the organization do?
Our mission is to provide a safe and supportive space where LGBTQ youth are nurtured and validated in all aspects of their identities. We provide a drop-in center and support group for ages 14-23. We are youth led by a steering committee of ten paid peer leaders. All our services and resources are free of cost, including but not limited to a food pantry, a clothing closet, bus passes, a transgender closet with transitioning supplies, bus passes, career specialist, counseling from our two licensed clinicians, and lots of fun activities.
We also work with youth serving agencies and schools, providing support and education. The comprehensive services we provide are unique to us and vital to Worcester's Queer youth populations.
Also - Safe Homes wants you to know that although we're not meeting face to face for the time being, we're still a community. We're here for youth during this crisis with COVD-19. Please go to our website at www.safehomesma.org for more information about our supports during this time and to check for updates moving forward.
Why is Safe Homes’ mission important to the Worcester area?
Our work matters because LGBTQ+ youth are still four times more likely to drop out of school because they’re not safe. They are three times as likely to commit suicide compared to non-LGBTQ youth. Many of our youth are virtually tortured every day in their schools and neighborhoods and for some, they do not have a safe space to go home to either. They're still being rejected, abandoned, and abused by their families. Many are objectified and rejected in their faith-based communities, as well. They're still being told that their very existence is not okay in our society.
Safe Homes offers a refuge for these youth. For too many of them, we are the first place they've heard that there is nothing wrong with them and that it's okay to be who they are. When our youth are not safe in their schools and churches and ALSO have no safe homes to go to, our space can mean the difference between life and death for them.
What has Safe Homes accomplished that you’re most proud of?
One of the things we are most proud of is the resource we've become to all of Worcester County. We've expanded our resources with all of the above mentioned things and our name recognition has providers, families, and young people seeing us as the go to place for advice and support. In all my years doing this work, I'm still profoundly humbled to know that we're literally saving lives!
How might donations from Redemption Rock customers help Safe Homes in the future?
The cost of maintaining our transgender closet, food pantry, etc. is very expensive. Support from Redemption Rock Brewery means we can continue to offer these things and more. The youth and families who we work with have no idea what it takes to sustain the work we do and the resources we offer. It's the community support from folks like you that keep us going.
Do you have any upcoming events that people should know about?
Our marquee event - the 2020 Safe Homes Gala - is taking place on Friday, October 23 from 6-10 pm at the AC Marriott in Worcester. For more information, contact us at amanda.gibbons@openskycs.org.
