S.A.F.E.

S.A.F.E. (Safe Affirming Family Environment), is an inclusive non-profit organization helping homeless and foster youth and young adults transition to independent living.

We hope that you will spread the word about this organization so that we can continue to educate and create a "Safe, Affirming, Family Environment" for ALL people. 


All donations are tax deductible. Please use Tax ID: 27-0815008

SAFE offers a monthly homeless outreach program called "SAFE SATURDAYS" in the Montrose area of Houston on the first Saturday of each month.

SAFE runs an inclusive Safe House Program to help young adults 18 and older who have aged out of foster care and are displaced or in need of housing.

SAFE aims to offer an inclusive monthly youth group to foster youth and their allies 13-18 years of age.

SAFE aims to offer an inclusive weekly drop-in and homework center to students 13-18 years of age.

A Safe Spot is a drop-in and resource center helping those foster and homeless youth and young adults who have aged out of the foster care system, are currently homeless or are simply struggling and in need of guidance and assistance.

Our permanent Safe Spot location at 2819 Hillcroft Ave, Houston TX 77057, offers a drop-in and homework center, along with a youth room and meeting space for other events.

We currently offer an additional Safe Spot on the 1st Saturday of each month at 3205 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006 where free food and other goodies are available, along with special guest services from the community. Volunteers are available to refer clients to local organizations offering services in need while also offering a listening ear.

SAFE SATURDAYS: Volunteers from the community join together the first Saturday of every month at 10AM @ 3205 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006 to put together brown bag lunches with non-perishable food and drink items that have been donated over the previous month. Homeless youth and young adults are welcome to come to our distribution location for free food and other goodies, special guest services from the community, resource referrals, all while enjoying some conversation with our volunteers.  For more info or to volunteer please email volunteeratsafe@gmail.com.

Weekly Drop-In and Homework Center: S.A.F.E. aims to establish an inclusive drop-in and homework center available one day per week to students 13-18 years of age where free internet, coffee, snacks, books, and most important of all, volunteers and advocates are there to support these students, ALL AT NO COST.

Monthly Youth Group: S.A.F.E. aims to establish an inclusive monthly youth group meeting available to all foster youth and their allies, currently in CPS, 13-18 years of age. Game nights, movie nights, discussion nights, and an array of other activities are planned for these monthly events.

Advocate and Mentoring: Volunteers in the community work with our clients as an advocate and mentor by giving of their time at one of our weekly or monthly events.

Safe House External Program: Any young adult over 18 years of age who has aged out of the foster system, is currently homeless or simply struggling is referred by SAFE to local organizations who may be able to offer subsidized or transitional housing. 

Safe House Internal Program: GLBTQ young adults over 18 years of age who find themselves displaced or in need of housing are paired with a member of our SAFE community who is a SAFE house parent offering transitional housing in their home averaging 3 to 6 months.  Clients living in a "SAFE HOUSE" must attend weekly counseling at the Montrose Counseling Center paid for by SAFE. The house parent is also an Advocate assigned to the client.  For those youth under 18 years of age that identify as GLBTQ, S.A.F.E. establishes 'Safe Houses' for these youth in the foster or extended foster care system working with a private licensed agency to pair these youth with certified foster parents, or finding those interested in becoming certified foster parents, paid by the state, who are currently fostering or interested in fostering GLBTQ youth.

Fostering or Adopting: Why Not You? CLICK HERE

In the state of Texas those who age out of the foster care system are provided a TUITION FEE WAIVER and receive FREE college tuition for LIFE!



In the state of Texas those who are in the foster system or age out of the foster system receive 100% health benefits until they reach 22 years of age.

STATISTICS:
As of 2007, there were an estimated 783,000 children served by the foster care system, 30 percent of whom were teens. There were 130,000 waiting to be adopted. There were 51,000 adopted, leaving well over 700,000 in temporary living situations.

About 20,000 adolescents leave foster care each year because they reach 18 years of age. These youth that are aging out of the foster care system have significant difficulties transitioning into independent living. 



Of the estimated 1.6 million homeless American youth and young adults, up to 42 percent identify as GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning).

Recent studies show that 26 percent of gay teens who came out to their parents or guardians were told that they MUST leave home.

Another study found that over 30 percent of GLBTQ youth reported suffering physical violence at the hands of a family member after coming out. 
 


Because of homophobia and transphobia in their homes, schools, and social settings, GLBTQ youth enter the foster care system at a disproportionate rate. 


Because of the lack of acceptance and abuse, many GLBTQ youth are either removed from their foster homes or found to be "throwaways" by child protection agencies. 



One study found that 78 percent of GLBTQ youth were either removed or ran away from their foster placements as a result of hostility toward their sexual orientation or gender identity.



In one study, 56 percent of GLBTQ youth interviewed about foster care said that they spent time living on the streets because they felt "safer" there than they did living in their group or foster home.



According to the U.S Census, almost three million gays and lesbians turned 55 in 2005; by 2010 that number will be closer to four million - and these are probably conservative numbers. Many gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender people feel that a traditional active-adult community or other communities may not welcome them.

Asked to identify their greatest concerns about aging, 32% of gay men and 26% of lesbians, 40 - 61 years of age taking part in a survey, cited discrimination due to their sexual orientation. This fear was most acute for those in civil unions or domestic partnerships, whose status as members of a same-sex couple presumably makes their sexual orientation more obvious. Fully one in three of these respondents (33%) named discrimination as a major fear, compared to less than one in four of their counterparts not involved in such partnerships.

An open-ended question about respondents’ greatest fears about aging specifically as a person who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender yielded a wide range of responses. Notably, one in five (20%) respondents said their greatest fear about growing older as an LGBT person is “being or dying alone.” While such concerns are common within the general aging population, they may take on even greater significance for LGBT boomers whose chosen families lack social or legal sanction. Almost a third of respondents (30%) reported concerns about antigay bias as they age. Eighteen percent named discrimination or prejudice in general as their top fear.