Many of the adults we serve are the children of yesteryear who never received the help they needed to recover from neglect, abuse, and all types of unspoken trauma. Self-medicating that pain to numb it away was often the only thing they knew how to do because being sober and feeling all that pain was unbearable.
Some escape it, but many do not. We see it every day. The stealing, lying, destroying of relationships for the money needed to numb that pain. By the time their addiction has hit full force, we don’t like them anymore, we’re scared, and we disconnect. We don’t want to help, or know how.
They were the children in the back seat…and they still need us.
Many people ask us how they can help and love the idea of sponsoring a bed for someone in our programs. We have a variety of options to choose from; You may want to sponsor either our Drop In or Overnight Shelter Program. You can also sponsor a bed in our detox program and help those people who are withdrawing from substances. Rest easier tonight knowing you are helping some of our community members with the basic human need of shelter!
If you would prefer to sponsor via etransfer, they can be sent to:
Kath@safeharboursociety.org or bookkeeper@safeharboursociety.org
Please include what you wish to sponsor in the message of the etransfer.
The Safe Harbour Outreach team did needle cleanup 881 times in the past 18 months.
This team focusses mainly on camp outreach and cleanup but they have also responded to needle cleanup in the broader community.
Safe Harbour has 88 staff.
The Harbour crew is made up of front line shelter teams, detox case managers, housing intake staff, 2 outreach teams, 23 nurses working in our detox, shelter and outreach programs, leadership, admin and 8 Doctors rotating to provide care in our detox program. All of whom are dedicated to building safe and healthy communities through their services
Did you know that over 85% of the people we serve at Safe Harbour are from Central Alberta?
Safe Harbour has 2 outreach teams operating in and around our community.
One of the teams is working collaboratively with the City’s Parks and bylaw teams in connecting with people who are experiencing homelessness and camping. Our other outreach team is our 211 team who works collaboratively with the City and the RCMP to respond to non emergency calls thereby freeing up the RCMP to having to respond when it isn’t necessary.
Safe Harbour works very closely with the hospital.
Our medical teams in detox and shelter are able to provide medical monitoring, thereby freeing up beds in the hospital sooner for others. Last year we were able to do that 78 times!
Safe Harbour’s Medically Supported Detox program helped 603 people withdraw from substances in 2020.
Our numbers are usually 800 -900 in a year but COVID made a difference. Detox is typically a 7 -10 day stay and people who want to access longer term addiction treatment must attend a detox program first. Our team of Doctors, nurses and case managers support people through their withdrawal and as they transition to further addiction/mental health treatment.
The following is a list of our most critical needs at this time:
