Local shelter in need of beds for Christmas season
Local advocates say there is a silver lining to the country’s growing sexual misconduct scandal.
“So, with everything in the news, of course, with more awareness comes more identification of people that it’s happened too,” said Kristen Dolan, Anti-Human Trafficking Director at SafeHouse.
SafeHouse of the Desert in Thousand Palms is a immediate help to youth and families in crisis situations.
Dolan said the shelter deals with clients who have experienced the issue everyday and that public reports provide a powerful opportunity for victims to talk about private, life-altering experiences and then trust that someone may finally hear and believe them.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing to really have that starting to come about where society is believing our victim’s instead of society telling them that they’re liars,” Dolan said.
With the influx of accusers coming forward, Dolan said the best thing about this issue is a shift in society.
“The really great thing about what’s happening now is that we’re seeing that switch in society. We’re seeing society saying, ‘I believe you.’ I believe this is what happened to you. Let’s go handle your abuser and lets really start taking care of this.”
The organization is also equipped to handle runaway, homeless, and other kids in need. The shelter currently has twenty beds, but recently they’ve had an influx of clients.
The shelter says they only need about three more beds and are hoping for roll-aways, that way they can be moved around to different parts of the shelter when needed.
If you’d like to help– you can call Kristen Dolan at (888) 343-4660, or drop off beds to the shelter at 72-710 Lynn Street in Thousand Palms.
More: I-Team and Stands for You investigations
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