Safe Harbor was organized in response to a need identified by the Chester County Task Force in 1992. The task force found that existing shelters were either established to provide services to a specific segment of the population (e.g. women with children or victims of domestic violence) or had a very structured environment which precluded many of those individuals diagnosed with mental illness or substance abuse problems.   Based on these findings, Safe Harbor was established as a low-demand shelter to serve both men and women whose needs were not being met by the existing shelter resources.

During its early years, Safe Harbor was operated by an all-volunteer staff from October through April to provide shelter from the harshness of winter.  The shelter utilized available space in church basements and other buildings that agreed to accommodate its needs.  Safe Harbor also started a Community Hot Lunch Program to provide a nutritious noontime meal to low-income people in the West Chester area.

In December 1995, Safe Harbor opened its permanent, year-round shelter designed to house 20 men and 4 women at 20 North Matlack Street in West Chester, Pa.  The facility has a fully equipped kitchen, plus shower and laundry facilities for use by its residents.

In 2007, the Single Homeless Women’s Task Force was created to address the growing needs seen in the county. As a result, the travelling women’s shelter was created to provide beds during the colder months in various houses of worship around the county.  Safe Harbor committed to a major expansion at this time to address this growing need and add a women’s shelter housed in a second story on our building.

In March 2010, the $1.6 Million dollar expansion was completed and the doors re-opened to provide beds for 20 men on the first floor and 20 women on the second floor.  Safe Harbor has been running at 95% capacity much of this past year.

In November 2011, Safe Harbor celebrated fifteen years at our location on Matlack Street with a Taste of Chester County event aimed to thank all those responsible for creating the shelter as well as all those having a part these past years in fulfilling the mission to serve the homeless.

Today Safe Harbor is serving over 250 unduplicated residents annually using both volunteer and paid staff.  We continue to monitor the success of our program and make changes based on input from organizations with which we collaborate, our volunteers, supporters and the community we seek to serve.


Left: Founding Members, Marlou MacGiver and Jane Varley working on the 15th Anniversary articles for our newsletter