Our Story
SAFE has been serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Ravalli County for over 35 years. What began as a small group of determined women with a phone and a vision has grown into the only comprehensive shelter and services provider in the Bitterroot Valley.
A Community Sees a Need
The Soroptimist International of Hamilton — a volunteer organization of women dedicated to empowering women and girls — identified a critical gap in their community. There was nowhere safe for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Working with the YWCA in Missoula, they established a crisis hotline and developed a network of safe homes. The program was originally called Family Violence Services.
A New Name, A Growing Mission
The program was renamed Supporters of an Abuse Free Environment — SAFE. The name reflected a broader vision: not just responding to violence, but working toward a community free from it.
A Home of Our Own
SAFE built its first dedicated four-bedroom emergency shelter facility and developed nine units of transitional housing. For the first time, survivors had a real place to go — not just a network of homes, but a shelter built specifically for their safety and healing.
HOME SAFE — Doubling Our Capacity
As Montana's population grew, so did the need. Families were being turned away. The housing crisis made it harder than ever for survivors to find stable ground after leaving the shelter. SAFE launched the HOME SAFE campaign, raising $3.2 million to expand and renovate the emergency shelter. Ground was broken in September 2023 and residents moved into the expanded facility just before Thanksgiving 2024.
A little group of old ladies looked around at the time, saw a need and went to work.
— Teri Polumsky, Soroptimist President, on SAFE's founding
SAFE Today
Today SAFE operates eight bedrooms — double our original capacity — along with transitional housing, rapid rehousing, a 24-hour crisis hotline, walk-in advocacy, legal advocacy, support groups, community education programs, and the SAFE Thrift Store. We are the only provider of emergency shelter and services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Ravalli County. The work that began with a handful of dedicated women continues every single day — because the need never stops.