The Safe Havens program located at 80 Merrick Street is a 13- bed, transitional housing program that predominantly serves the chronically homeless, mentally ill, and clients with substance abuse. The H.O.P.E. program is a housing program that is focused on preparing the client to find permanent housing, and maintain a healthy lifestyle independently. The clients in the program live together and provided with services to help them learn to budget, get appropriate medical care, cook, and any many other life skills. There are community meetings and substance abuse meetings in the house. Safe Havens provides clients with transportation to and from appointments and helps clients keep up with medical treatment. While in housing, clients pay 45% of their income to the program as a program and housing fee.

The next step for clients that are ready to move out of the Safe Havens house but may not be prepared to be on their own yet is moving into one of the four new independent units. These apartments are for high functioning clients who are waiting on permenant housing. They are not in as structured of an environment as at the Safe Havens house, but they still are provided services and transportation.

Once clients move into housing, many utilize the Community Healthlink SOAP (Structured Outpatient Addictions Program), which is a very structured program that keeps clients busy. The program also helps clients to earn income such as transitional assistance, in order to maintain housing.

The clients at Safe Havens are a mix of chronically homeless and temporarily homeless individuals. The chronically homeless clients have the most trouble relearning the skills to maintain permanent, stable housing, and it is hard to get back into living independently.

In order to enter the program, an individual must be HUD defined homeless or mentally ill. All clients must make a commitment to recovery, and remain sober while in the program. They also must seek medical attention for any needs that they have. If an individual cannot maintain these standards, the staff will help them find a program that fits their needs.

The largest barriers standing in the way of individuals finding permanent housing is the lack of affordable housing, the waiting list for rental subsidies, and CORI checks. Wilson Reyes and Nancy Wuabu, staff at Safe Havens, repeatedly find that CORI checks prevent clients from getting housing, even though they have spent several years in recovery, sober. If an individual has a record from five years ago, they cannot find housing, even if they have been clean, sober, and working for the past few years.

The ideal outcome for clients in Safe Havens is to be self-sufficient and live independently; which includes the maintenance of their home, groceries, budgeting and banking, and keeping up with medications and treatment. Clients are all allowed to still utilize services once in permanent housing, which is a large factor in the high success rate of the program.