An initiative that gives youth in crisis more opportunities to connect with services is up and running in Juneau. The Safe Place program trains businesses and organizations to connect youth who feel unsafe with social services in Juneau.
Hannah Jenkins is the outreach coordinator at Juneau’s city-run youth shelter Shéiyi Xaat Hít. She learned about the program at a conference, and said it seemed like a good fit for Juneau.
“The idea is that you bring on businesses and organizations, usually where we know youth already feel safe and already go when they have nowhere else to go, and they agree to be Safe Place sites,” Jenkins said. “So their employees are trained.”
Jenkins said if kids and teens ages 10-17 are feeling unsafe, they can come to one of these places, and an employee will connect them with the shelter’s staff who can do crisis management and figure out next steps.
Participating organizations and businesses include all staffed fire stations, the Juneau police station, the Southeast Alaska Food Bank, Kindred Post, both city pools, Glacier Cinemas, JAMHI Family, Tlingit and Haida’s Wayfinders program at Floyd Dryden and the Zach Gordon Youth Center.
The initiative is coming to Juneau at a good time, according to Jorden Nigro, the city’s youth services manager. She said youth refer other youth in crisis to the shelter, and in the summer, there are fewer opportunities for someone to notice a young person needs help.
She said it’s important that young people know that providers are ready to support them.
“I think one of the things that kids often find when they come to shelter is that their voices are heard,” Nigro said. “And some of them may feel like their voices haven’t been heard in quite some time.”
The Zach Gordon Youth Center is hosting a Safe Place launch party Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Youth can meet staff from participating organizations, eat food, and earn prizes.
A full list of Safe Places can be found on the shelter’s website. Youth can also text the word “safe” and their full current address to 44357 to find the nearest Safe Place.
