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Safe Harbor Easton

Description
Safe Harbor Easton is an emergency/transitional shelter for homeless single men and women. It is also a drop-in program for low-income adults, particularly those who have difficulty with the tasks of daily life.  Housed in a two-story building at 536 Bushkill Drive in Easton, the shelter has the capacity to house 16 men and 10 women overnight. Shelter residents are permitted to stay at the shelter for a period of up to 60 days while they prepare for their futures.

The mission of Safe Harbor Easton is to motivate program participants to work toward self-sufficiency and to improve their quality of life while assisting them to meet their basic needs. During their stay at Safe Harbor Easton, residents have the opportunity to learn new problem-solving skills, stabilize their incomes, assess their job skills, look for job training, have medical exams, and find suitable permanent housing.

Self-sufficiency is an integral part of the work at Safe Harbor Easton and a plan to assist individuals in achieving independence begins at intake. In reviewing an individual’s appropriateness for the shelter, Safe Harbor’s staff assesses the applicant’s resources as well as needs. The staff will determine whether the individual has other potential housing options such as shared housing, sufficient finances to seek shelter elsewhere, and if the person possesses a reasonable expectation that he or she can benefit from Safe Harbor’s array of services.

Each person who enters the Safe Harbor Easton as a shelter resident is interviewed by a case worker or other appropriate staff member. The case worker collects specific items of information such as the last place of residence, next of kin, employment history, income data, and the reason for the need of services. Together with the case worker, the shelter resident develops a goal plan, which may include finding stable appropriate housing, getting a job, dealing with family issues, stabilizing his or her income, and/or attending drug, alcohol, or mental health outpatient treatment. Services at Safe Harbor or the community may include life skills classes, medical exams, counseling, drug and alcohol counseling. Confidential AIDS testing, services to veterans, and a Social Security Representative Payee Program.

For day participants, the drop-in center offers respite from the stress of the streets. Two meals per day are served, and  social rehabilitation services help participants to achieve the level of self-sufficiency which matches their abilities. Day participants are thoroughly interviewed at intake just as shelter residents are. The goal plan for those participating in the day program is similar to that for shelter residents, but somewhat more focused on the need for budgeting, maintaining one’s place of residence, and finding a job, if the individual is able to work. Safe Harbor Easton offers the same variety of services to the day program participants as are available to residents.

All program participants are encouraged to become part of the Safe Harbor community where all individuals, both staff and participant, are treated with dignity and respect. House chores are carried out by residents because they value their quarters and want to make a contribution to its décor and maintenance. Safe Harbor Easton does not permit drugs or alcohol on the premises. Both the shelter program and the daytime program operate under a set of house rules that are explained and a copy is made available to each program participant. Facilities and supplies are available for the maintenance of personal hygiene and each individual is expected to make use of them.

On a yearly basis, Safe Harbor serves up to 300 homeless adults and over 275 unduplicated daytime participants.