Advocates for Victims Safespace Agency Summary

The A.V.P. currently administers Miami-Dade County’s only two state-certified domestic violence centers. Safespace North is a 63-bed shelter located in the northeast quadrant of Miami-Dade County, and Safespace South is a 24-bed shelter located in Homestead, Florida. Besides offering emergency shelter, the Safespace programs provide residents with food, clothing, transportation, child care, counseling, case management, legal, economic and medical advocacy, donated furniture and household items, job training, employment and economic assistance, and follow-up. Safespace North also operates a full-time Children’s Program, which offers individual and group counseling, tutorial services, recreational activities and parenting groups.

Recognizing that emergency care alone is often only a partial remedy to the problem, Miami-Dade County and the Junior League of Miami joined in a partnership in 1989 to open the county’s first transitional housing program for survivors of domestic violence. Inn Transition, located in the city of North Miami, is a 20-unit, 71-bed apartment complex owned and developed by the Junior League, and staffed and operated by the County’s Advocates for Victims Program.

The primary goal of the Inn Transition Program is for women to achieve economic and emotional self-sufficiency. Women are admitted to the program for a period of six to twenty-four months, depending on their needs. Services include subsidized rent, utilities, childcare and transportation, as well as extensive support in areas of educational, vocational and personal development.