Our Mission
To provide alternatives to domestic violence through support services, advocacy and education, and to assist domestic violence victims and their families to end the cycle of violence.
Our Approach
Our services are offered under the belief that everyone deserves to live in a violence-free home and be an equal partner in a safe relationship. While working with clients, our philosophy is to empower the individual to become safe from abuse. She/he must make her/his own choice about the relationship, the future, and safety precautions. By offering education, encouragement, and guidance, SAVE’s clients gain hope for a new beginning – a life free of fear and free of abuse.
Although SAVE is located in Southern Alameda County, California, we will serve clients from any city, county, state, or country.
Our History
In 1976, a group of concerned community members recognized the need for a women’s shelter. They formed the Committee on Battered Women to provide public education on domestic violence and community support for shelter groups. A year later they incorporated as a non-profit organization under the name of Shelter Against Violent Environments (SAVE), and began earnest work to open a shelter. This dream became a reality on October 2, 1978.
In 1996, Rodney Clark joined SAVE as Executive Director. His first tasks were to ensure SAVE’s solvency and increase services. Hence, SAVE introduced the COPS program (Community Oriented Prevention Services), a partnership between SAVE and local police departments.
Thirty years later, SAVE offered much more than shelter – counseling, transitional housing, life skills training, legal advocacy, restraining orders, crisis intervention, community education, teen dating violence prevention program, children’s programs, and support groups. To reflect this wide range of services, in late 2005 SAVE’s Board of Directors voted to change the agency’s name to Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments, keeping the acronym SAVE which is more commonly used.
Our Achievements
In the past year, we have:
- Answered 2,981 calls to our 24-hour hotline
- Completed 111 Temporary Restraining Orders to keep the batterer away from the victim
- Reached more than 3,400 teens with our Teen Dating Violence Prevention presentations
- Provided shelter to 250 women and children through our emergency shelter, subsidized housing programs, and motel vouchers
- Assisted 841 domestic violence victims with crisis intervention at local police departments