About Us
Why SAFE?
Why SAFE?
Why SAFE?
Supporting Area Families Everyday is a safe and neutral place for parents to exchange and visit their children in a supervised setting. SAFE is staffed by trained professionals who can help ensure that the exchanges and visits are conducted peacefully and in the children's best interests.
Here are some of the reasons why you should choose
Supporting Area Families Everyday is a safe and neutral place for parents to exchange and visit their children in a supervised setting. SAFE is staffed by trained professionals who can help ensure that the exchanges and visits are conducted peacefully and in the children's best interests.
Here are some of the reasons why you should choose a supervised custody exchange and visitation center:
- Safety: we are designed to be safe and secure for children and families. We are equipped with security cameras and other safety features.
- Neutrality: SAFE provides a neutral location for exchanges and visits to take place. This is helpful for reducing conflict between parents.
- Supervision: SAFE is staffed by trained professionals who supervise the exchanges and visits. This ensures that the children and parents are safe.
Locations
Why SAFE?
Why SAFE?
Bradford County:
861 Golden Mile Rd.
Wysox, Pa 18854
Susquehanna County:
681 Main St.
New Milford, Pa 18834
About Us
In the News
In the News
In the News
The Rocket-Courier
—BY BILL KEELER—
When the families break-up, the legal system steps in and determines how and when the custody of the children will be shared between the parents.
What is not as clear is what the custody exchanges look like in the real world, especially in cases where there may be a history of domestic violence or other
The Rocket-Courier
—BY BILL KEELER—
When the families break-up, the legal system steps in and determines how and when the custody of the children will be shared between the parents.
What is not as clear is what the custody exchanges look like in the real world, especially in cases where there may be a history of domestic violence or other uncomfortable circumstance.
For example, what if one parent is not comfortable having the other parent come to their home? Do they meet in a public place like a gas station or McDonald’s parking lot?
Custody exchanges can often be tense and sometimes violent situations.
Earlier this month in Bethlehem, a 32-year-old man was charged with assault after a custody exchange turned violent. According to WFMZ-TV, Samad Mumuni rammed his car into the back of a woman’s vehicle and threatened to kill her after an argument during a custody exchange. This is just one example of how custody exchanges can, and do, turn violent.
In 2008, Heather McNett of Canton found herself asking these same questions about custody exchanges.
She set out to find out what resources were available for people in the area with the same questions she had. What she found was disappointing—there were none.
So, she decided to do something about it.
Over the next several years, McNett began formulating a plan to provide families with safe, comfortable custody exchanges in Bradford County.
Her search led her to Danielle Chamberlin-Gorman, who is now the director of Bradford County Victim Services. Chamberlin-Gorman connected her to the Abuse and Rape Crisis Center (ARCC), an organization that provides support for victims of domestic violence. ARCC became instrumental in the creation of Supporting Area Families Everyday (SAFE) by offering training and financial support.
In 2017, they partnered to create SAFE.
The goal of SAFE was to establish a neutral, safe and private location where parents could do a custody exchange.
Shortly thereafter they added another member to the team, Jessica Parks, who now is the supervisor of SAFE. She has a background in childcare and desire to serve families who are experiencing difficult times.
Along with providing safe, comfortable custody exchanges, SAFE also provides supervised visitation. This allows a peaceful way for families to stay connected when supervision is required.
In addition, they can connect parents with resources such as parenting tips, job services and housing assistance.
Since 2017, they have served almost 50 families in Bradford County and added two more members to their team—Mercedes Meuse, who serves as a monitor, and Lois Shaffer, who is a volunteer.
Going forward, SAFE wants to make more people in Bradford County aware of their services, increase their budget and attract more volunteers
SAFE is a 501(c)(3) organization.
In the News
In the News
In the News
The Canton Independent-Sentinel
by Rachel Heitzenrater
TOWANDA — What started out as a simple resource for child custody exchanges turned into something much more that local parents can utilize.
Supporting Area Families Every Day, or S.A.F.E., is a non-profit that is dedicated to strengthening families and buil
The Canton Independent-Sentinel
by Rachel Heitzenrater
TOWANDA — What started out as a simple resource for child custody exchanges turned into something much more that local parents can utilize.
Supporting Area Families Every Day, or S.A.F.E., is a non-profit that is dedicated to strengthening families and building a healthier community for Bradford County and the surrounding area.
Founder and Executive Director Heather McNett of Canton saw a growing need for a safe place for parents to exchange children and a safe place for parents to visit their children in a supervised setting.
“Initially we started out as Safe Transitions in 2017,” said McNett. “So we started out in Canton offering custody exchanges. We were getting feedback from the community, such as needing supervised visitations.” McNett was at the time working with Finding New Hope and Theresa Allen, until she realized this organization was becoming bigger than she had originally planned.
Because of the non-profit expanding, McNett moved her office to Towanda to be able to better serve the entire county, and surrounding counties as well.
“We needed to be more centrally located, and in a bigger space,” said McNett, who noted they have clients from all over, some as far as New Jersey or Westfield in Tioga County. “Canton and Troy have always been very supportive of us and we have always been thankful for those communities.”
The focus of the program is safety and providing safety measures for children of families who have history of domestic violence or drug abuse history, for example.
“Sometimes it’s couch surfing or homelessness,” said McNett, “If they don’t fit under Children and Youth Services, they may be referred to us.”
After her own personal experiences, McNett was determined to not only provide a safe haven for children, but to help parents with useful resources along the way.
Along with the visitation services, S.A.F.E. offers resources with local connections on job postings, housing, parenting tips and more.
McNett’s worry was hearing about custody exchanges and children subjected to arguing and fighting, which turned sometimes violent and deadly.
“As we continue to do the research, we knew we needed to do something for our families so that kids can go from one parent to another and in an environment that is safe and happy, just to support them,” said McNett. Thus, the idea of no-contact custody exchanges became a reality and a staple of what S.A.F.E. stands for - peaceful transitions.
“A lot of our parents who do custody exchanges, they don’t have a lot of communication at all,” said Jessica Parks, S.A.F.E.’s supervisor. “Even when they can communicate, they still come to us because they don’t have to be face-to-face. You don’t have to worry about anyone calling anyone names.”
“Our environment that we created is kid-friendly. When there’s a need for food, we are able to provide that to the families in the short term and direct them to resources in the community for a more permanent solution,” said McNett.
The non-profit also celebrates holidays and plans activities for the children and parents to do together.
S.A.F.E. has two more members, Mercedes Meuse and Lois Shaffer who assist Parks and McNett with services.
The S.A.F.E. staff members are very passionate about serving the unheard voices in the community - the children.
Currently, the S.A.F.E. schedule is 2-7 p.m. on Sundays, 3-8 p.m. on Tuesdays, 3-8 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
“Looking forward, we would like to be able to make more connections with the community,” said McNett. They would like to expand their services to better help families and provide more resources to them.
For more information on S.A.F.E., go to safebradco.com, call 570-250-7401, email safebradco@gmail.com, or make an appointment stop at their location at 908 S. Main Street in Towanda.
In the News
What our families say about us
What our families say about us
We have love here
We have love here," said Heather McNett.
BY: BY C. R. WAGNER FEBRUARY 18, 2021
It’s not easy being a single parent. It’s even more difficult for the children involved in situations with split parents. And if there are custody issues, it can be difficult for parents to meet in a friendly, caring way to share their time wit
We have love here
We have love here," said Heather McNett.
BY: BY C. R. WAGNER FEBRUARY 18, 2021
It’s not easy being a single parent. It’s even more difficult for the children involved in situations with split parents. And if there are custody issues, it can be difficult for parents to meet in a friendly, caring way to share their time with their children.
Supporting Area Families Everyday (SAFE) is an organization that provides a positive environment for children to visit with their parent in a setting that is both supervised and family friendly.
“SAFE provides a safe dignified approach to custody exchanges,” said Heather McNett, SAFE executive director. “With our no contact custody exchange program, your child will transition from one parent to the other in a child friendly environment designed just for them.”
McNett explained that the mission statement of SAFE is to strengthen families and build a healthier community. They offer supervised visitations and custody exchanges for families in Bradford County and surrounding areas.
SAFE is located in Towanda at the Trinity Lutheran Church at 908 South Main St. The organization was started in October 2017 and was renamed by John Shaffer from Canton in October 2020. A 501c3 non-profit organization, they are funded by individuals, fundraising, grants, and the United Way. They have helped about 45 families since they opened, as they continue to provide a neutral child friendly safe environment.
“It provides a more dignified place for parents to bring their children for a custody exchange,” said McNett.
“You don’t have all the stares of the public wondering what you’re doing,” said Jessica Parks, SAFE supervisor.
“And you do have all additional measures of safety with a no contact exchange,” added McNett.
Typically, it’s mothers and fathers who participate in the child exchanges, but it has also includes grandparents and others. The age of the children range from newborns through teens.
The visiting parent is scheduled to arrive first. Once there, the drop off parent arrives about ten minutes later. Parents have no contact. Trained staff members facilitate the exchange.
In addition to McNett and Parks, Mercedes Muese and Lois Shaffer are monitors who help with the facilitation.
“We have a good relationship with our parents on both ends of the spectrum,” said McNett. “We work really hard to make this a neutral environment so they recognize it as such.”
There are many different reasons parents use the SAFE services including P.F.A., housing, treatment programs and recent release. And according to McNett, “We don’t judge.”
They work with parents to give them the best time with their children. They tell parents, “You’re in the meantime space.”
“This is a neutral space to maintain a relationship with your child while working through whatever it is that brought you here,” said McNett.
“We’ve had a number of families ‘graduate’ when they no longer need our services,” said Parks.
Parks remembers watching a bond develop between a father and his daughter. She was an infant and it was the father’s first meeting with her.
“It was really great seeing him come in not knowing anything about babies and then leaving well equipped to handle the situation,” said Parks. “It was funny when I supervised him changing a diaper for the first time. It was a pretty messy one!”
McNett and Parks work very well together, and are constantly bouncing ideas back and forth to create the best environment for the children and their parents.
There are provided activities for children to do with their parent, both inside and outside. These include games, movies, crafts, books, a swing set, and corn hole toss. Families even decorated their own Christmas trees together.
“We try to keep the family traditions alive for them,” said McNett.
“We can see that they have made good memories here,” added Parks.
In some situations where parents can’t make a visitation in person due to illness or bad weather, they utilize Zoom video chat. They received a grant from the David and Carol Keeffe Fund, which allowed them to use the virtual option when needed.
SAFE is always looking for volunteers and they welcome any donations.
“Our children bond with our volunteers and they love our retired community,” said McNett.
For more information call (570) 250-7401 or email safebradco@gmail.com.
“We have such a happy environment here,” said Parks. “Even though this is a very serious undertaking.”
McNett remembers one child who said, “I like visiting here because they make my Daddy be nice.”
Heather McNett and Jessica Parks are very dedicated to helping ensure parents have a peaceful way of staying connected with their children. When that happens, they say, “We have love here.”
What our families say about us
What our families say about us
What our families say about us
"It's a very important resource for custody visitation and exchanges." Perfection achieved", "It's wonderful to have a center to help exchanges my very young son while I have a PFA against his father. They make me feel very safe. I also know my son is in good hands during the exchange. This center is for sure a blessing", "This visi
"It's a very important resource for custody visitation and exchanges." Perfection achieved", "It's wonderful to have a center to help exchanges my very young son while I have a PFA against his father. They make me feel very safe. I also know my son is in good hands during the exchange. This center is for sure a blessing", "This visitation is the best thing to have happened to this area. It's hard enough when parents are unable to co-parent add in a court system that grants supervised visitation, who knows what kind of people our children would have been subjected to." "I feel safe for my son. No altercation between parents. The staff was very friendly and helpful to all my son's needs. I was very impressed" "I like coming to the center, they make my daddy be nice to me"
September 22, 2021
It's a celebration
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to those of you who attended our ribbon cutting celebration. We enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces (and some new ones) and having the opportunity to showcase our new facility.
We would also like to thank the Towanda Wysox Chamber for welcoming us to the neighborhood!