Center for Safety & Change

Center for Safety & Change
Transforming Lives. Strengthening Communities. Ending Violence.

For over 45 years, Center for Safety & Change has been dedicated to ending gender-based violence. Founded in 1979 as a grassroots response to domestic abuse, the Center has grown into a nationally recognized organization providing life-saving, trauma-informed services to thousands of adults and children each year—while working tirelessly to prevent violence before it starts.

Whether it’s a mother escaping an abusive partner in the middle of the night, a teen seeking guidance after a sexual assault, or a family rebuilding their lives after human trafficking, the Center is there—24/7—with safety, compassion, and a clear path forward.

The Center has earned a platinum seal of transparency on GuideStar and has consistently maintained top ratings for financial accountability, impact, and integrity. Supporters can give with confidence knowing that every dollar goes toward direct services and long-term change.

🛡️ Comprehensive Services: Meeting Survivors Where They Are

Immediate Intervention & Support
The Center’s team of bilingual, culturally responsive advocates provide personalized care at every stage of the healing journey:

• 24-hour hotline connecting survivors with crisis counselors anytime, day or night
• Emergency residential shelter and transitional housing for individuals and families in danger
• Crisis intervention, safety planning, and counseling for adults and children
• Legal services including criminal, matrimonial, civil, and immigration representation
• Support groups for survivors of abuse, assault, and trafficking
• Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Program, offering confidential medical exams in a survivor-centered setting
• Accompaniment and advocacy at hospitals, police stations, courts, and social service agencies
• Pet safety program, ensuring survivors don't have to choose between safety and their beloved animals

🌱 Prevention, Education & Culture Change

While direct services are vital, the Center also works upstream—challenging the systems and cultural norms that allow abuse to persist. Through education and awareness, they empower communities to break cycles of violence:

• Anti-Human Trafficking Program: Identifies and supports survivors, while raising awareness through law enforcement and community partnerships
• School, workplace, and community trainings to build awareness, reduce stigma, and promote healthy relationships
• Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program (TDVPP): An in-depth program reaching hundreds of students each year with tools to recognize and prevent dating abuse
• Student Activists Ending Dating Abuse (SAEDA): A powerful youth leadership initiative that trains high school students to become peer educators and change agents
• College campus outreach ensures young adults know their rights and have access to help

🤝 Collaboration & Systemic Leadership

The Center is not just a service provider—it’s a convener, a policy advocate, and a community leader. It brings together agencies across sectors to respond to violence more effectively and prevent it more proactively:

• Leads Rockland County’s major coalitions on domestic violence (STOP F.E.A.R.), human trafficking, and immigration support
• Partners with law enforcement, schools, faith-based groups, healthcare providers, and mental health professionals to strengthen community response and close systemic gaps
• Champions policy reforms to improve legal protections, increase survivor access to justice, and hold offenders accountable

🏡 Beyond Crisis: A Path to Stability

Violence does not end when a survivor walks out the door—it reverberates through housing, employment, mental health, and finances. The Center’s long-term support model helps survivors not only recover but rebuild:

• Housing assistance, including help securing permanent housing and navigating landlord relationships
• Employment support, including resume development, interview preparation, and connections to job training
• Childcare, transportation, food security, and other essentials to ensure a stable foundation
• Financial literacy education and career counseling, equipping survivors to become self-sufficient
• Ongoing counseling and peer support groups, addressing PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other trauma-related issues

All services are offered free of charge, in multiple languages, and in ways that reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of Rockland County. The Center’s staff represent the communities they serve—building trust, breaking down barriers, and making healing truly accessible.

🌟 Trusted, Transparent, and Impact-Driven

As a proud recipient of GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency, the Center demonstrates an unwavering commitment to measurable impact and responsible stewardship of donor support.

In 2024 alone, the Center:

• Answered more than 1,900 hotline calls
• Provided emergency shelter and transitional housing to over 100 individuals
• Delivered prevention education to thousands of students and professionals
• Advocated for hundreds of survivors in courtrooms, hospitals, and government offices
• Supported dozens of human trafficking survivors in their journey to freedom

These are not just numbers—they represent mothers, children, teens, neighbors, and coworkers. Survivors whose lives were changed—and sometimes saved—by a community that refused to turn away.

💜 Why Your Support Matters

The need has never been greater. As federal funding faces steep cuts, local support is critical to ensuring that survivors don’t face abuse or its aftermath alone.

When you give to Center for Safety & Change, you’re doing more than donating—you’re:

• Giving a mother and her children a safe place to sleep tonight
• Helping a teen believe in her own power and voice
• Equipping a survivor with the tools to become financially independent
• Standing up against violence in all its forms

You’re not just changing one life. You’re helping change the future—for everyone.

Join us. Support survivors. Create lasting change.
centerforsafetyandchange.org