Safe Haven open house Saturday

An open house will be held at Safe Haven, 426 Big Horn St., Saturday, October 29 from noon-5 p.m.. Kaitlin Stone is the new executive director of This nonprofit organization had been part of the Self Help Center out of Casper, but they are their own organization now. Stone moved to Thermopolis in July from the Portland area. However, she is originally from Cody. Stone said, “It was like coming home.”

Stone described Safe Haven and said, “The quick answer is that we provide support to survivors of violent crimes, specifically domestic violence, and sexual assault. We can work with survivors also of elder abuse, child abuse, neglect, stalking, and bullying. But sexual assault and domestic violence are the two most common.”

When it comes to why Stone feels called to this particular line of work, she said, “Actually, I’m a survivor of domestic violence. My mother was in a relationship when I was a child and spent some time in a domestic violence shelter when I was growing up. The advocate that worked with us just absolutely changed my life. I was about ten years old, and she was absolutely incredible. At that time, I realized what a profound impact even one person can have on a survivor’s life. From there, I just knew that I wanted to dive into this world.”

At this time Safe Haven is looking for more staff. They are hiring for three positions. They are a part-time advocate, an adult internship, and a high school internship. The interns will serve for six-month terms. The part-time advocate will work around 20 hours a week. 

Stone said, “We’re looking for someone and would love to have experience working with survivors. But also we’re considering lived experience because if you’ve survived yourself, you’re the most qualified person to work with survivors. And that is someone who can come in and work with survivors to provide advocacy.” 

Stone described the internship positions and said “They will mostly be focused on prevention work, which is like getting into the community in the schools and talking about how to have healthy relationships.”

Safe Haven is a nonprofit organization that receives its funding from a combination of federal and state grants and is donation based. Its contract runs through the fiscal year, which ends in June 2023 and they are pre-approved for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Stone’s short-term goals are first to get the other staff hired; however, she added she wants to let the community know that, “We’re here. We’re brand new and building that trust in the community. Being that it’s such a small town, I really want to set our reputation as an organization that’s community-centered and supportive.”

On Saturday, Stone said, “We’ll have some snack foods and pumpkin decorating for the kiddos. And some other Halloween-themed games, such as a costume contest and some coloring. Our board of directors and I will be present and answer questions if people have them. We have a ton of information to give out, such as pamphlets and then letting people see the building.”

Stone continued and said Safe Haven, “It used to be the Hope Agency a while ago. And we just want to let the community know that we’re definitely our own organization. We’ve made changes and hope to make it a space where people feel comfortable coming in and even if they don’t need services as a survivor, just coming in and maybe volunteering or saying hello.”

Hot Springs County Sheriff Jerimie Kraushaar, Hot Springs Health’s Miranda Nelson, and Ranae Baldes are on their board of directors. Stone said, “Our doors are open 24-7 to law enforcement to come in here and work with survivors. I’m on call 24-7 if they have to go meet with a survivor at their house or at the hospital. I’m always available to meet up with them. We want to work really closely with community organizations. We’re working with the Department of Family Services on their adult protection team and child protection team. We want to be a support for any organization and the community that’s working with people who have survived crimes.”

Stone can be reached via email at KStone@SafeHavenHSC.org or at 864-4673, which is their 24-hour crisis hotline and office number.