The Safe Harbor Child Advocacy
Center, Inc. has moved one step closer to tangible reality with the signing
of a twenty-five year lease for land on which to build its first facility.
At a February 20
meeting, Sevierville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved the lease agreement previously endorsed by Safe Harbor’s
president, Barry Fain, on behalf
of that organization’s directors.
The property is located
next to the Boys & Girls Club on Dolly Parton Parkway, and the lease
agreement provides Safe Harbor
two additional 10-year extensions before renegotiations would be required.
Board members
will now begin phase two, the process
of finding an architect and builder for the preparation and construction work
on the facility. Any non-profit agency would hope to keep building costs to
a minimum, but Donna Koester, SafeHarbor’s
executive director is even more optimistic.
“We hope
to walk away owing nothing,” said Koester. “We have several groups from the
community that have stepped forward to offer a variety of in-kind donations
and services, which will go a long way in helping us
make this a reality.”
The organization
has seen a groundswell of support for Safe Harbor’s
mission to help child-victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse and
neglect. Safe Harbor Child Advocacy is
a public service, non-profit
organization established to work with 4th Judicial District
courts, law enforcement, the District Attorney General’s office, Child
Protective Services and mental and medical health professionals
to operate facilities in which vulnerable children who have already been
victimized can feel secure and protected. The facilities are slated to include
on-site office space for law enforcement and Child Protective Services to
further aid their investigations, and forensic interviews of children will be
conducted in a spacious, non-threatening environment, as well as offering
post-trauma counseling by licensed therapists for those children and any
unoffending family members.
The land in Sevierville,
though a big positive step, is only the first step. The minimum goal of Safe Harbor
is to provide at least two
facilities in the 4th Judicial District – one to serve
Sevier and Cocke
Counties, the other to
serve Jefferson and Grainger Counties,
so directors continue to scout these areas for a second site location.
To learn more
about Safe Harbor, visit its website: SafeHarborCAC.com
or contact Donna Koester at 865-453-2638, or e-mail
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
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Lease Agreement
Safe Harbor recently signed a lease agreement with Sevierville. Pictured from left in front are,
Safe Harbor Directors Barry Fain, president; Carole Yett, treasurer; Donna Koester, executive
director; Marian Oates, vice-president; Arthur Bohannan and Lee Wertheim. Back row,
Sevierville Mayor and Aldermen: Travis McCroskey, Jery Loveday, Mayor Bryan Atchley,
Ed White, Claude Ownby, and Vice-Mayor Dale Carr.
