Children’s Safe Harbor is getting a new home
Construction soon will begin in Conroe on a permanent home for Children’s Safe Harbor to help the nonprofit better serve the needs of abused children in Montgomery County.
Recently, state Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, in conjunction with the nonprofit’s board of directors and Executive Director Victoria Constance announced $5 million from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services will be coming to Montgomery County to help fund the new facility on East Loop 336.
The organization is a Children’s Advocacy Center that has served the Montgomery County community and surrounding counties for 25 years by bringing justice, healing and hope to child victims of sexual and physical abuse. The nonprofit is currently based on Odd Fellow Street in Conroe and celebrated its 25th anniversary in September.
“Our children’s advocacy center requires a separate, child-focused setting designed to provide a safe, comfortable and neutral place where services can be appropriately provided for children and families that allows them to feel physically and psychologically safe and comfortable,” Constance said. “With the exponential growth of Montgomery County, the complexity and increased violence that our children are experiencing post-pandemic and the continued rise of caseloads, Children Safe Harbor’s current facility is no longer sufficient to sustain our unique service delivery structure.”
According to information from the nonprofit, in 2022 the agency provided services to 2,303 children ages 2 through 17 and reviewed 8,271 reports of child abuse in Montgomery, Walker and San Jacinto counties which was a 9% increase from 2021.
The new center will be on 17 acres. The first floor, which will wrap around a healing garden, will house a law enforcement area, a conference and training center for community events and a medical clinic.
The second floor will offer natural lighting to create a comfortable place for children and families to tell their stories and participate in counseling. The second floor also will house a gym and dining area for staff.
“This vital funding gets us closer than ever before to finally breaking ground on a beautiful campus that will not only allow Children’s Safe Harbor to continue their critical work on behalf of abused children and their families, but to expand that work and the victims they serve for decades to come,” Metcalf said.
Community donors have also supported the project.
In June 2022, Woodforest Charitable Foundation committed $2.5 million toward the naming rights of the nonprofit’s new and expanded facility.
Construction will begin before the end of the year and the project is expected to be complete in a little over a year.
Visit the Children’s Safe Harbor website for more on the organization.