Guest
Safe Haven is part of a growing national trend of self-help housing,
where individuals who had been living individually on the streets come
together to create grassroots solutions to urban problems. Commonly
known as tent cities, these self-help housing communities actually
vary greatly in size and types of structures. Safe Haven is a small
tent community with around 15 community members. Safe Haven operates
as an organized community, integrating all functions of daily life at
a local scale. Safe Haven is also a place where a person can learn
more about what it means to be a participant, engaged in a big picture
that includes them. With our democratic structure, people get to "be
somebody". In a society that often refuses to acknowledge those on
the streets, we are proud to stand out as a community that recognizes
and values each individual.
Our mission includes the following:
To create a safe, clean, self-governed community environment for
economically distressed residents of the State of Illinois, through
establishment of an open-air place where people living on the streets
can have their basic needs met in a stable, sanitary environment,
until they are able to access another form of housing more in keeping
with said resident’s personal goals and aspirations.
Urban tented villages like Safe Haven offer many advantages, including:
- Residents enjoy a safe environment, especially women, older people and people with disabilities or special needs
- Residents use their skills, are enterprising and industrious
- Residents gain the ability to cohabitate with spouses or intimate partners
- Residents find a sense of place, privacy, and personal space
- Residents recover from institutional dependency
- Businesses and cities find less homeless people on the streets
- Taxpayers know that the community is not wasting their money on expenses that do not help end homelessness
- The police benefit by cooperating with Safe Haven security to maintain a safe site, cutting down on necessity of police presence in the area
- Nearly one-third of adult homeless persons are not involved in the substance abuse culture; residents work together to maintain a drug and alcohol free environment
- Residents develop communication and leadership skills through involvement in Safe Haven’s self-governance
- Residents enjoy a community-supported sanctuary from being criminalized due to very low economic status
- Residents gain a sense of community and human connection
- Residents are able to form stable affinity groups and longer-term relationships
- Residents get to have pets, an important aspect of creating a home for oneself