Meet Becca, SafeHouse Advocate
When Becca joined SafeHouse, she wasn’t just looking for any job. She was trying to get back to her purpose.
“I really missed residential care,” she says. “I enjoy the direct care with the clients and building those relationships…and I missed it a lot.”
After years working with survivors of human trafficking and mentoring teens and young adults, she knew her heart belonged in direct service. At SafeHouse, she found exactly that.
No two days look the same. One moment she may be answering the crisis line. The next she might be helping a resident navigate paperwork, leading a craft night, tending the community garden, or simply sitting beside someone who needs to talk.
But if you ask Becca what matters most, her answer is simple:
“I try to make an effort to spend quality time with clients every day and build those relationships.” It is, she says, a privilege to be in her position, and to walk alongside the clients who come through the SafeHouse doors.
More Than a Place to Stay
For many people, a shelter is easy to picture in black and white—a place someone goes after escaping abuse before moving on with life.
The reality is much more complicated.
“I don’t think a lot of people think about how deeply it impacts your life when you go through these traumatic experiences,” Becca explains. “It’s not just as easy as calling the shelter, coming to shelter, and then it’s smooth sailing after that.”
Many survivors arrive having left nearly everything behind. Replacing identification, finding employment, securing housing, caring for children, and healing from trauma all happen at the same time.
“It’s terrifying,” she says. “Especially with our clients that have children…they have no idea how they’re going to find a place to live, much less support themselves and their children.”
That understanding shapes the way she approaches every interaction—with patience, compassion, and an awareness that healing rarely follows a straight line.
Finding Joy in the Middle of Hard Things
One of Becca’s biggest passions at SafeHouse is creating moments of normalcy.
Craft nights. Game nights. Gardening. Story time with children. Yoga. Journal decorating. These activities might seem simple, but they serve a much deeper purpose.
“Living in a shelter is not something that anybody is hoping and dreaming for,” she says. “Nobody wants to be here. But it’s temporary.”
She knows how easy it can be for residents to become overwhelmed by the daily reminders that they are not home.
Without opportunities to connect, she says, “it can be very easy to not get out of that mindset.”
That’s why she intentionally creates spaces where people can laugh together, learn something new, and simply enjoy being together.
“The whole atmosphere changes,” she says of craft nights. “Everyone’s laughing. We usually have music playing…it feels very much like a sense of community.”
Even better, those activities often become coping skills survivors can carry long after they leave.
“They realize, ‘Oh, this really helped get my mind off things.’ They can utilize crafts, journaling, or gardening as a way to cope.”
The Privilege of Being a Safe Person
Throughout the conversation, one phrase surfaced again and again.
“I have the privilege of being a safe person.”
For Becca, advocacy isn’t about fixing every problem or having every answer.
It’s about showing up.
“My favorite part about it is…I have the privilege to show them that I’m a safe person. No matter what their behavior, no matter what, I’m going to care about them.”
Even during moments of frustration or crisis, she tries to remember that survivors have every right to feel angry, overwhelmed, or scared.
“It’s a privilege that I get to be there…to help walk them through navigating those very valid feelings.”
That perspective has become her guiding principle—not only for serving clients, but for anyone considering this kind of work.
Growing More Than Vegetables
Out in the backyard, Becca’s newest project is literally taking root.
This summer, residents celebrated harvesting their first tomatoes and peppers from the SafeHouse garden.
“It was such a cute little pepper,” she laughs.
But the garden represents much more than fresh produce.
“I have big plans for that garden,” she says. “Not only as something that we can use food to cook and enjoy, but also as something therapeutic.”
Residents often help care for the plants alongside staff, creating another opportunity to build confidence, develop healthy routines, and experience the satisfaction of nurturing something that grows.
Like healing itself, gardens take patience.
“They love it,” she says. “It’s just going to take time—and money—to do that.”
How Our Community Can Help
When asked what supporters can do, Becca’s answer isn’t limited to donations.
“I think the public taking the responsibility to be aware and to be educated…the more educated our community is, the better equipped they would be to help.”
She also reminds us that while shelters always need essentials like shampoo, clothing, and underwear, they also need the things that bring hope.
Craft supplies.
Gardening supplies.
Games.
The small things that create moments of joy.
“We have to worry about the necessities,” she says, “but we also could use things that make it fun at shelter.”
Because healing isn’t built only through safety. It’s built through connection and community. And through someone who shows up every day determined to be a safe person.
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