HomeSafe is Hope Realized

“HomeSafe is different than any other place I have lived. You showed me a different side of me. You didn’t see me as another angry child, as a problem. You listened to me, understood me, and helped me see who I can be. I am grateful to you, and I promise that I will be that light for other foster kids behind me.” These are the words of Nicole, one of Homesafe’s Pond Place residents—who will soon graduate from Palm Beach State College.

Every child deserves a safe home, a loving family, and hope for a happy future. Children like Nicole have been removed their homes where they experienced abuse, neglect, food insecurity, family violence, and more. Children like Nicole wonder why the people who were supposed to protect them hurt them instead. They ask themselves what they have done to deserve this life, and wonder if things will get better.

Healing for these children can only happen in a place where they feel safe, loved, and understood—even when they are difficult. A few years ago, HomeSafe’s leadership decided to completely reimagine our residential homes for our kids. We had seen the positive impact of private bedrooms for our young adults at our Bernstein Independent Living Campus. Studies around trauma-informed design also told us that our aging facilities with double-occupancy bedrooms were no longer the optimal environment for traumatized children to heal.

We asked ourselves one question: “What would we want for our own kids?” We recognized that we could do better. We promised that any child referred to our intensive therapeutic program was not only going to receive the most compassionate, therapeutic care, but would also get to live in a home designed to help them heal.

Over the past two years, Homesafe delivered on our promise. We have opened three new trauma-informed and designed campuses in West Palm and Lake Worth, and will begin construction on our fourth campus in Boca Raton. We’ve accomplished this through the generous support of friends and philanthropists, raising $11,500,000 toward our goal.

With the transformation of these campuses, our kids are flourishing.
This is our dream for them – to have a happy, normal childhood and to reignite their hope for the bright future ahead of them.

If you would like to help transform more children’s lives, please reach out to Laura Barker, Chief Philanthropy Officer, at laurabarker@helphomesafe.org and (561) 383-9829.