The Women's Safe House

Trained employees and volunteers answer our crisis intervention hotline around the clock with compassion and care - assessing a woman's safety and providing community referrals when needed. Once we have established that a woman is ready to leave the abusive relationship, we will conduct an assessment to ensure that our location is safe, and we assist with the development of a safety plan to help the client arrive safely to our confidential location.

The Women's Safe House is open 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year, and serves 300 - 350 women and children annually. A stay can last up to 12 weeks depending on the situation. While at the house the women and children are provided with clothing, hygiene items, warm meals, and transportation assistance to school and work. The residents attend group and individual educational sessions and have access to case management, children's programming, legal advocacy, financial literacy workshops, job placement guidance, support in finding new safe housing, and a broad range of referrals and linkages to community and social services resources. Since children truly are secondary and tertiary victims of domestic violence, our Child-Parent Advocates work diligently to help each child reach his or her potential by building their self-esteem, developing their character, and creating various coping strategies through school-aged exercises and prevention-based curriculum.

The Women's Safe House is the only domestic violence shelter in Missouri to offer a twelve-month Successful Transition Empowering People Services (STEPS) program once families transition out of the house. The STEPS program provides women with continued advocacy, case management, transportation assistance, and emergency financial aid for one year following their completion of the Residential Program. STEPS is offered to residents to help prevent homelessness and eliminate the woman's return to the abuser while in the process of rebuilding her life and attaining an accomplishable level of security and independence.