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Safe Harbor Celebrates 20 Years of Helping Families Heal

Everyone processes grief differently. Like an ocean, sometimes it comes as a rolling tide or a precarious undertow, and sometimes it crashes like a tidal wave. When someone is dealing with the death of a loved one, it’s easy to feel alone and adrift in this sea of grief. What should they do? Who can they talk to? How can they move forward?

That’s where Safe Harbor comes in.

When Safe Harbor opened its doors back in 2001, it served 26 children from 17 families. As the program has grown over the past two decades, Safe Harbor has reached more than 1,773 children, teens, and young adults from 1,072 families. While the program remains true to its original mission to help families move through the healing process after the loss of a loved one, the program has expanded to meet the growing need of the families it serves. Safe Harbor now hosts more than 20 support groups for children, young adults, and caregivers. 

Through philanthropic support and grant funding, Safe Harbor staff and volunteers travel to schools in the area and provide services and resources to children who might not have access to similar services within the school itself.

A Brighter Tomorrow

In his 1928 book “Salt from My Attic,” American author and professor John Augustus Shedd, wrote: “A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are built for.” The quote perfectly embodies the program’s mission. For the past 20 years, Safe Harbor has lived up to its namesake by providing a safe space for families to grow, heal, and work through their grief at their own pace. While many continue to dedicate their time to the program, Safe Harbor’s ultimate goal is to help people move forward, batten down the hatches, and continue navigating through life with confidence—sailing towards a brighter tomorrow.