FOR HELP, 24/7, CALL OR TEXT (616) 452-6664 OR CHAT WITH AN ADVOCATE HERE
IF YOU ARE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER, CALL 911.
2627 Birchcrest Dr SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
Hours:
Monday-Friday: 8am – 5pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
Upcoming TrainingsSafety PlanningPersonal Protection Order Recorded TrainingsMediaActivities for Children During COVID-19
Upcoming Trainings
Safe Haven is currently using Zoom to facilitate trainings during the Stay-at-Home order. Once you have registered for a training using the appropriate form, you will receive an email with the Zoom meeting details. Participants are able to participate via computer or telephone audio.
If a training fills before you are able to register, we will have a wait list. Recordings of previous trainings will also be made available.
If you would like to explore virtual training opportunities, please contact Tara at taday@shmgr.org
Safety Planning & Coping Strategies for Victims & Survivors of Domestic Violence
Create a Safety Plan for a Friend or Family
Build Check-Ins Into Your Routine
Routines can help maintain normalcy. Make sure to include contact with people you care about! This could be texts, calls, or face timing, but keeping it consistent helps to be able to notice changes and a need for help, as well as opportunities to just share how we’re doing.
Create Safety Plans Together So You Know How to Help
What steps should you take, and when? How will they communicate needing you to act? What would be helpful vs invasive or dangerous? Your ideas may seem great to you, but unintentionally put someone at risk. Listen to your friend!
Drop off essential items, food, or gifts
If someone is being isolated or is afraid to leave home, they may not be able to get out to buy what they need, or have access to self care tools.
Make Future Plans
Sometimes it can be hard to have hope or think about the future when we’re going through something traumatic and scary. Try to think of things to do together once the period of quarantining is over that you can look forward to, and work on planning in the meantime.
Find Your Own Supports
It can feel scary and hopeless to know someone is in a bad situation that you can’t fix. It’s important for you to have your own supports in place so you don’t become too overwhelmed, or take the stress on yourself. That doesn’t help anyone, and can actually make you less of an effective support for that person.
Ways to Talk Safely With an Advocate
Go For a Drive
If you have access to a car, take a drive and park in a place where you can call an advocate. This place can be the parking lot of a grocery store. You can also call an advocate while driving to and back from the store.
Go for a Walk
Go for a walk. This can look like taking dogs or kids out for a walk if you can still talk privately.
If going for a walk is not a possibility step outside on your deck or patio. You can say that you are calling to check-in on a friend or family member.
Try Calling at Night
Are you able to call at night time? We are available 24/7 to answer your calls
Phone Safety
Many of the suggestions above require the use of a phone. It might be helpful to place the phone in coat pocket before leaving to make the call so that your partner will not see you take it with you. Also consider buying a burner phone for the specific use of calling the hotline. Make sure ringer is on silent unless you are expecting a call from an advocate.
Virtual contact
You can email us if that is a safe option for you. While confidentiality may be at risk, if this is the best option for you to contact an advocate.
Do not be afraid to contact us virtually. Try using Facebook Messenger. You may not receive an immediate response but we can help to navigate ways that can be more meaningful. Make sure that you can delete your messages.
If connecting one-on-one is not a safe option consider checking out our social media. We are and will be posting videos on coping strategies and affirmations to our Facebook and Instagram pages. Please utilize those resources until you able call and talk with an advocate.
Coping Strategies
Information on PPOs
What You Need to Know
Safe Haven Ministries wants to inform the community of recent updates made to Personal Protection Orders (PPOs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following will be a summary of what survivors need to know concerning updates to these orders from the State of Michigan Governors Office and the Michigan Supreme Court:
- Courts are still filling and hearing cases for PPOs
- Any PPO that expires from April 27, 2020 through June 1, 2020, is automatically extended to July 21, 2020
- The court or law enforcement agency that entered the PPO into the Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) will record the extension and give notice to who it was filed against
- The person who the order was filed against does have the right to object to extension and have this objection heard in a court hearing.
- If an objection is made courts must give notice to parties involved with at least 7 days before date of hearing.
Safe Haven will continue to update the community on changes as we receive them.
Michigan Executive Order
Executive Order 2020-63 states that:
- All PPOs that would otherwise expire during the period from today’s date (April 27th) through June 1, 2020 are extended, and now expire on July 21, 2020.
- The court or law enforcement agency that entered the PPO in (LEIN) shall record the extension in LEIN and provide notice to the respondent of the extension as required by law.
- At the time the court or law enforcement agency records the extension in LEIN, must inspect the LEIN entry to determine whether the PPO has been served on the respondent. If LEIN indicates the PPO has been served, the court or LE shall modify the LEIN entry to indicates the PPO has not yet been served on the respondent.
- 2020-63 does not prohibit any objection to the extension of a PPO under the procedure described in AO 2020-11, bar any motion to modify or terminate a PPO, or prohibit a petitioner from consenting to termination of a PPO.
- 5. Modification or termination of PPO under AO 2020-11 shall be recorded in LEIN as required by law.
The short and simple:
All Personal Protection Orders that were set to expire during April 27, 2020 through June 1, 2020 will be extended to July 21, 2020.
The court or law enforcement agency that entered the PPO into the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) will make record of extension. They must also check to see if the PPO has been served in the LEIN and if it has then it must be marked as not yet served.
A person has the right to object to the extension of an order served against them and the Administrative order does not rule against modification or termination of PPO
Modification or termination of PPO will be recorded into Law Enforcement Information Network
Michigan Administrative Order
Michigan Administrative Order 2020-11 provides:
- Any PPO that expires from today’s date (April 27th) through June 1, 2020, is automatically extended to July 21, 2020.
- A respondent who objects to the extension may file a motion to modify or terminate the personal protection order and request a hearing under MCR 3.707.
- For a hearing under this order, the court shall schedule the hearing and notify the parties at least 7 days before the date of the hearing by the means most likely to provide actual notice.
- The extension set forth in this order does not limit in any way a judge’s authority and ability to hold a hearing on respondent’s motion and determine whether the extension should continue or the personal protection order should be modified or terminated.
The short and simple:
Personal protection orders that were going to expire during the period of April 27th, 2020 to June 1st, 2020 will be extended to July 21st, 2020
A person who has had the PPO filed against them can object to its extension. If this is the case then any court schedule hearing must notify all parties within 7 days.
Judges are not limited to hold hearings based on objections and still hold authority to determine if a PPO will be extended, modified, or terminated.
What is a PPO
Personal Protection Orders or PPOs are court orders that would stop a person from making threats or committing violent acts toward another. PPO’s are used to protect someone from being harassed, assaulted, and stalked.
There are three types of PPOs:
- Domestic Relationship PPO
- Non-Domestic Relationship PPO
- Non-Domestic Sexual Assault PPO
As a domestic violence agency Safe Haven Ministries works with clients who are trying to get PPOs against intimate partners. Safe Haven advocates can help offer support and resources on obtaining PPOs but not legal advice
Types of PPO’s
The three types of PPOs are as follow:
Domestic Relationship PPOs This type of protection order is for when you have a relationship to the person who is threatening or harming you. This can prohibit that person from stalking, entering your home, interfering with your ability to get to work/school, having or buying a gun, removing children from you if you have sole custody, and other forms of violence that would cause mental distress or physical harm.
A domestic relationship can be:
- A spouse or ex-spouse
- Your child’s other parent
- A person you were in a romantic relationship with
The other two include:
Non-Domestic Stalking to help protect you from someone who you are not in a domestic relationship with.
Non-Domestic Sexual Assault protection orders are for when someone has or threatened to sexually assault you. These orders are used when the person who has or threatened to assault you are not in a domestic relationship.
Safe Haven primarily works with clients who are seeking Domestic Relationship PPOs.
How the Faith Community Can Support Domestic Violence Victims
Learning objectives:
- Participants will report being able better understand how domestic violence in impacting victims and survivors during the current pandemic
- Participants will have an increased knowledge of how to support victims and survivors
- Participants will have an increased knowledge of how to safety plan with victims/survivors
- Participants will better understand current resources in the community and referral practices during the pandemic
Domestic Violence Community Coordinated Response Team (DVCCRT) Facilitated Discussion: Community-Wide Response to Domestic Violence during COVID-19
Media Coverage of Safe Haven & COVID-19 Response
Children Activities for Parents & Caregivers
One of the themes we have heard from individuals and families is that providing care and entertainment for their children 24/7 is challenging, and at times, exhausting.
Our community is comprised of amazing parents and caregivers, and yet our current climate can present a whole host of new challenges and stressors. For individuals that are caring for children that have witness or experienced violence, it can be especially hard work.
At Safe Haven, we believe strongly that healthy, safe and flourishing families is possible. With hard work, we can support one another through these tough times.
Our goal for this space is share resources and activities to empower parents & caregivers to learn new and additional skills to help lead to the social and emotional development of children and adolescents.
Below you will find an array of activities that we hope will not only be fun, but also provide opportunities to strengthen the emotional and physical well-being of your chid(ren). This is often referred to as “protective factors”. Protective factors, such as empathy building, development of healthy coping mechanisms to deal with stress, and conflict resolution without the use of violence are all skills that increase the likelihood that children and adolescent will live a healthy and happy life.
If you have any questions or suggestions for this page, please email Holly at hwilson@shmgr.org.