Capital Campaign

Overcrowding Prompts Building Project And $2 Million Campaign
When SafeNet began over 30 years ago, we never imagined how the need for our Hospitality House shelter would grow. Our shelter is a house that was originally built for a family of five. Today, it houses as many as 28 abused women and children at the same time for weeklong stretches or more.

In the kitchen, there's an old white stove we have to cook meals on. That's one stove to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for 28 women and children of different cultural backgrounds and ranging in age from two months to 75 years old.

In our dining room, families must eat in shifts because there's not enough chairs for everybody to sit down. In our living room, there are only two couches and a single TV for 28 people. When it's time to sleep, the small bedrooms upstairs often have to be shared by two or three unrelated families. The overcrowding in our shelter, which on any given day may include as many as 20 children who have been uprooted from their homes, impacts on our ability to provide the best service and crisis resolution we can for each family member.

Heartbreaking Story
A few years ago a woman had to flee home because her husband was so violent. She came to our Hospitality House emergency shelter. It was August; it was hot; the shelter was full of other women and children and the air-conditioning had broken. So she chose to go home rather than stay in our overcrowded rooms. Two days later she was dead. Her husband had killer her.

Did you know inmates at the Erie County Prison have more individual living space than what we can offer Erie's abused women and children?

Turning Victims Away
Offering shelter to abused women and children is our frontline defense and most basic service. Our Hospitality House shelter is the "emergency room" of our "hospital". When it comes to domestic violence, until a woman and her children are safe, nothing else matters. Unfortunately, last year we had to turn away over 120 battered women and children because we just didn't have enough room to accommodate them.

Helping Kids Cope
Children who witness their mother being beaten are actually more traumatized than if they were beaten themselves. Fifty percent of the victims of domestic violence at our shelter are children. We make it a top priority to help them cope with their fear and anguish. Our children's program, which is a state model, helps children feel safe and as if they have some measure of control in their lives.

Safety 24/7
Abused women and their children are admitted to our shelter 24/7. About 40% are brought to Hospitality House by the police after a violent incident has taken place at home. Many others are referred by doctors or come directly from the hospital. Once at our shelter, we provide sanctuary and help victims resolve their present crisis.

Domestic violence shelters are the only kind of shelters in Erie County where the identity and location of victims are kept completely confidential to insure their personal safety.

Shelter is vital in the range of supports needed to get free from abuse. Depending on the situation, we also offer legal help, relocation and housing help, referrals for children, medical referrals, and even drug and alcohol assessment.

Our Campaign to Raise $2 Million
The renovation and expansion of our Hospitality House shelter is critically needed to ease overcrowding and better serve the victims of domestic violence.

Severe cuts in government funding have taken their toll in recent years and put a strain on our resources. Even so, domestic violence is a problem that is not going away. It's a community issue with dire and deadly effects. We must do all we can to comfort and lessen the damage to women and children's lives.

Your gift today will truly help victims of violence young and old. It could even save a life.

To find out more about the improvements to be made to Hospitality House, please read our brochure.