Our Story

In 1987, the members of the Hamilton Soroptimists, a women’s service club, identified a need for our community to provide safe havens for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Members began staffing an emergency hotline and developed a network of safe homes. This network, originally named Family Violence Services, has grown into an organization, Supporters of Abuse Free Environments - SAFE.

SAFE continues to have a primary focus on creating immediate and long term safety for survivors and their children. Over the last 35 years we have expanded our programs to include community education and public awareness activities, and systems-level work increasing survivor safety and offender accountability.