Safe Exit Initiative re-opens community resource center and day shelter
Photo I Courtesy of Safe Exit Initiative
Safe Exit Initiative's Harbor is located at 534 Cambridge St. in Worcester.
Worcester-based Safe Exit Initiative, a survivor-led nonprofit working to end the sex trade by providing support and safe exit options, has reopened Harbor, its community resource center and day shelter.
Harbor's overnight shelter component closed in 2023 in part due to lack of funding, the renovated Harbor will continue to offer services including access to harm reduction and hygiene supplies, and both medical and legal services in addition to a day shelter, according to a Thursday press release from SEI. The center will also operate the organization’s mobile outreach van, providing essential services throughout the community including Narcan, wound care supplies, and clothing.
“It has taken a lot of hard work to get here today, and we want to thank our SEI staff and our supporters for their dedication,” Audra Doody, SEI co-executive director and chief programs officer, said in the release. “The renovations to create the Drop-In Space on the first floor and administrative offices on the second floor, putting both departments under one roof, has been a goal of ours since 2019.”
Formerly known as Living In Freedom Together, SEI launched Harbor in 2020 as an expansion of its resource and assistance drop-in center. Harbor’s shelter closing three years later coincided with the organization’s overall rebranding, changing its name to Safe Exit Initiative and refining its strategic approach to fulfilling its mission, according to SEI’s website. That same year, SEI underwent a change in leadership as its founder and former CEO Nicole Bell stepped down and was succeeded by current co-executive directors Audra Doody and Courtney Ross Escobar.
“SEI has been quietly reorganizing, rebuilding, and rebranding over the past several months.”, Ross Escobar, SEI co-executive director and chief operations officer, said in the release. “We are excited to share what we’ve been working on with our community today and in the coming months!”
Harbor’s reopening comes as SEI received $380,000 in funding through the state’s Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership program and a $300,000 grant for its pro bono legal clinic, The Advocacy Project, from Texas-based philanthropic organization The Jensen Project.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to clarify Harbor's overnight shelter component closed in 2023, not Harbor as a whole.
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