About A Safe Place

A Safe Place/Lake County Crisis Center is a multi-faceted organization committed to becoming a model for the prevention of domestic violence through empowerment and counseling, intervention and education, research and evaluation in collaboration with the community.

Mission

Eliminate domestic violence in our community through multi-faceted programs.

Philosophy

A Safe Place/Lake County Crisis Center provides temporary emergency shelter, affordable housing, advocacy, and individual and group supportive services to abused women in transition and their children; intervention services for abusers to learn accountability for their choices and actions; and education programs to build awareness of domestic violence among professionals who encounter victims and abusers, students in classrooms, and the community-at-large. Our mission-focused work is guided by our philosophy.

 A Safe Place/Lake County Crisis Center operates with these beliefs:

• Everyone has the right to a violence-free, safe and healthy life.

• Domestic Violence is a crime defined in the Illinois Domestic Violence Act.

• Eliminating sex role stereotyping leads to a society that equally values each individual.

• Violence in intimate relationships is a chosen behavior to exert power and control over another.

• Violence can be a learned behavior. Through intervention and treatment, alternatives to abusive behavior also can be learned.

• Children from violent homes experience trauma, suffer psychologically, physically, emotionally and socially. A Safe Place recognizes child witnesses as primary victims of domestic violence.

• Early intervention, prevention education, domestic violence education, and community awareness can interrupt the intergenerational cycle of violence and reduce the social acceptance of domestic violence.

• Victims are traumatized, suffer from low self-esteem and have limited access to resources; all of which keep them trapped in violent relationships. With safety, counseling, and supportive services, survivors of domestic violence experience healing and empowerment, and decide for themselves to live free of violence.

• A Safe Place must address domestic violence on a local, state, and national level. Legislative and institutional mandates and appropriate responses by police, prosecutors and judges are essential in eliminating domestic violence.

• Every individual in our community must become more aware of how to prevent, intervene and be less tolerant of domestic violence. Our society must hold individuals responsible for their abusive behavior. A Safe Place strives to create a community where violence is not tolerated or hidden.

Phyllis A. DeMott       Executive Director

Board of Directors

Volunteers

Volunteers are vital to every single program A Safe Place offers, from staffing the crisis line to assisting victims in obtaining orders of protection at the Lake County Courthouse. Volunteers co-facilitate counseling groups and mentor our youngest of domestic violence victims, the child witnesses to this crime. The countless hours contributed by these dedicated people allow the message of A Safe Place to be communicated to thousands of citizens throughout the Lake County area at community events and organization meetings, health fairs and prevention education programs at schools, and through mailings prepared throughout the year that reach thousands more.

If you are interested in becoming A Safe Place volunteer, please call us or fill out our Volunteer Application Form.

If you would like more information about A Safe Place and the domestic violence assistance services, please call us at 847-731-7165 or email us at info@asafeplaceforhelp.org.

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Everyone has the right to a violence-free, safe and healthy life.
Help Line: 847-249-4450 • Office: 847-731-7165 • TTY: 847-249-6557

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