Safe House Program

Sponsored by: The Oil City Police Department

Southside Neighborhood Association

                       Siverly Neighborhood Association

                   Northside Neighborhood Association

By Lori Bly

Clark Summit - Over looking The Southside of Oil City.

                                               What is a SAFE House?

SAFE House is a way for neighbors to help out neighbors in need. After an application and training process, a SAFE House applicant will be a certified SAFE House and will be given the official SAFE House sign to place in their window. A person in crisis can come to your house for assistance in one of two ways: With the police assistance or on their own.
Your responsibility is to be a conduit between the person in crisis and the police. Your contact with the person in crisis will be limited to the amount of time that it takes for the police to be dispatched and respond to the call (usually less than then five minutes). SAFE House is to be enacted ONLY in emergency situations. When there are other non emergency issues that you need to contact the police, you should be contacting the police department citizen not as a SAFE House. Any misuse of the SAFE House program will be taken very seriously and may result in your termination as SAFE House participant.

Safety for the person in crisis and for the SAFE House is our main concern. The SAFE House program is voluntary. If there is ever a time that you feel the situation is particularly volatile or dangerous, you have the choice to allow the person in crisis into your home, if you feel that it will not be a safe situation for you or our family, you can ask the person in crisis to stay on the porch and let them know that police are on the way.

If you have children, you may want to educate and have safety plan with your children. Let them know what the SAFE house program is and how it works and make plans for when there is a SAFE House situation at your home. This can be as simple as letting you children know that you are helping people in trouble and having a safe place for children to go during the crisis. Not unlike the disaster planning, you may also want to have activities in the designated safe place for your children.

If you are one of the two trained SAFE House participants, you may also want to use a team approach for a SAFE House call and have one person with the individual in crisis and one on the phone with police.

Is there training?

Yes, in order to become a certified SAFE House, you must complete a training
facilitated by the Southside Neighborhood Association and the Oil City
Police Department.

Are there any special materials that I will need?

Once you have completed training you will be given a SAFE House handbook, Police Dispatcher reporting sheets, and a phone tree. During training we will discuss other materials that you will need in order to better facilitate a SAFE House call including first aid kit, home and family safety plan and a phone.

What type of information will I need to tell the police dispatcher?

* SAFE House Number

* Description Of incident

* Who

* What

* When

* Where

* How

* Any Other Information ( Vehicle description, clothing description, direction of travel, etc.)

Why should I become a SAFE House participant?

You are the Eyes and Ears in your neighborhood.

Nobody else is in a better position to observe conditions.

You Can make a difference in your neighborhood!

How do I become a SAFE House Participant?

To receive a SAFE House application.

Contact spokesperson Trish McKissick

at the:
Southside Neighborhood Association

Email her at Trish McKissick

Stop by Best Printing to pick one up

Between 8-4 Monday -Friday

You can click on the link below and print it out.

It is in PDF format. If you don't have Adobe Reader
      you can download it here.

             Adobe Reader

Safe House flyier with Safe House Application


      Safe House Application.pdf

MAIL TO:

Southside Neighborhood Association

PO Box 805, Oil City PA 16301

Email: Southside Neighborhood Association

A PERSON IN NEED!

Where is help when you need it?
I see it a Big Green House on a window there
Is a SAFE House!

I go to the door and they give me the help

I needed by calling 911. In a matter of seconds I had all the help I needed.

Thank God for those folks, who open up their home to a person in need!
Are you a victim of Crime? No Cell phone to

dial 911. Have you see this big green house in windows all over town?

         That is a SAFE House!

* A safe place for people in danger or need of help.

* A SAFE House is not just for school kids anymore, it is for anyone who is in need of a SAFE House!

* Are you a child or senior citizen who    lost your way?

* Or are you in a domestic dispute that need a safe place to go? Did someone just beat you up?

*Did you just see a crime that needs reported right away?

You can go to a SAFE House for HELP!

We need more SAFE Houses!

   The more SAFE Houses there
    are, the more we can help each other.

Why can't yours be a SAFE House!

For someday you could be:

A PERSON IN NEED!