This week is National Safe Place Week and the Youth Services Bureau of Monroe County is commemorating the Safe Place Program.
The Safe Place Program, which started 24 years ago, helps at-risk youth. The Safe Place Coordinator of the Youth Services Bureau of Monroe County, Vanessa Schmitt, said this program helps kids in crisis get help through counseling services, support services, and shelter services.
“The kids themselves initiate the help,” she said. “This program is designed for them to be able to take their problems into their own hands and reach out to an adult and reach out to professionals to receive the help that they need. So I would think that is our biggest success, is that, the youth actually know about the program, they know that it is designed for them and specifically for them.”
Schmitt quoted a youth saying that Safe Place is their guardian angel and it catches them when they fall.
This week the program is hosting an informational booth at Monroe County Library, tours at their facilities, and other events with the youth to celebrate the program.
