GET TO KNOW SAFE PROJECT
HISTORY
The roots of SAFE Project can be traced back to 1974. Nine female law students at the University of Wyoming (UW) saw a need to raise awareness about rape at UW and in Laramie, so they opened and staffed the Women's Awareness Movement Office on campus to provide educational materials. Around the same time, a community group of activists raised funds to set up a voucher system to pay for hotel rooms for women and children who were fleeing domestic and family violence situations. In 1977, the two groups merged under the name SAFE Project (Sexual Assault Family Violence Educational Project), which became a registered nonprofit in 1980 and a 501c3 in 1981.
SAFE Project received assistance from a number of organizations in the early years. The first office space was donated for two years by the Susan B. Anthony Center at UW. State grants provided funds to hire staff, establish a 24-hour crisis line, train volunteer advocates, and begin educational programs in Albany County. Church Women United, a group that had been educating the community on intimate partner violence, elected to transfer their shelter fund to SAFE Project in 1982. The funds helped make it possible to purchase SAFE’s first permanent shelter building in the late 1980s. In 1991, an office building was purchased on Steele Street to improve accessibility to services for survivors in the community.
Over time, more space was needed for providing services to an increasing number of clients. In 2010, two separate buildings were purchased and renovated with community development block grants from the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Community Development Authority, funding from the Guthrie Family Foundation, and proceeds from the sales of the former shelter property and the office on Steele. The building at 319 South Lincoln Street was renovated into the present day office. The new shelter property was ready by early 2011 and provided apartment spaces with three times more rooms and beds than the former shelter in order to accommodate more clients and children. In fall 2016, SAFE Project added a satellite office on the UW campus to provide better access for students, faculty, and staff at UW, WyoTech, and the Albany County campus of LCCC for domestic and sexual violence and stalking services and help with navigating Title IX, misconduct hearings, and connecting with academic and campus housing resources.
Thanks to local groups including Rotary Club of Laramie, a playground was added at the shelter site for children staying there with a parent to have a safe outdoor area to play. By 2017, with help from a Red Rover grant, pet friendly upgrades were completed to allow pets to stay in shelter with clients. From 2023-2024, contractors made repairs and upgrades to the shelter for safety, longevity, and comfort of clients, children, and pets staying there including durable flooring, secure solid doors, brighter lighting, child-safe cordless blinds, and more. To find out how you can help, please visit our donate page.
PRESENT DAY
Today SAFE Project works closely with a number of local, state, and federal organizations and agencies to better assist clients and meet their needs. Since 2009, SAFE has been coordinating the local Sexual Assault Response Team to facilitate increased collaboration among health agencies, emergency responders, law enforcement, and the criminal justice system.
SAFE Project employs a director, assistant director, four full time advocates, and one part time advocate, and we rely on interns and volunteers. Most of our staff work in the main office plus we have an office located in Knight Hall on the University of Wyoming (UW) campus for helping student survivors of domestic and sexual violence and stalking from UW, WyoTech, and the Albany County campus of LCCC with our services plus navigating Title IX, misconduct hearings, and campus resources as needed. We count on an average of 15-25 volunteer advocates to actively help staff the 24-hour hotline or in the office as a volunteer or as part of an internship. Our Board of Directors are also a team of volunteers comprised of individuals from a variety of professions throughout the community who help oversee and provide direction for our operations and mission. In 2019, we began our volunteer SAFE Men program specifically for men who are passionate about helping survivors who we would select and train on interpersonal violence to prepare and equip them to be role models, encourage respect, and provide prevention education. We teamed up with the Violence Prevention Office at UW in 2024 to hold SAFE Men training each academic semester.
More information about our services can be found on our home page and throughout our website, and more information on prevention, outreach and events can be found on the corresponding tabs or by clicking the underlined links.
FUNDING
SAFE Project is funded through many grants and awards that make it possible to provide and expand our programs and services, from operating costs to programs such as our 24-hour hotline, emergency shelter, crisis, safety, and advocacy services, campus services, financial assistance, prevention and outreach, and our volunteer and SAFE Men programs. In addition to several federal grants and a grant from the State of Wyoming, other recent funders include the following:
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Albany County Community Agency funds
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City of Laramie Community Partner funds
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Community Services Block Grant
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Guthrie Family Foundation
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Mary Kay Foundation
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United Way of Albany County
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University of Wyoming
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Walmart local community grant
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Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (WCADVSA) rural grants
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Wyoming Community Foundation grant
We are also so grateful for our generous community members and organizations who support our services:
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Brunch & Bubbly event donors and sponsors
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Core Legal LLC
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Donations from supporters
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Elks Club
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Kappa Kappa Gamma
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Proceeds from fundraisers by community members and organizations
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Soroptimist International of Laramie
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Toyota of Laramie
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UW Ethics Club SparkTank
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Wolf Creek Radio Broadcast LLC
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WyoGives Day donors
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Zonta Club of Laramie