Presence & Purpose
Our relationship with One Safe Place in San Marcos is a new one that we’re proud to be part of, and we know it will benefit our clients in very unique ways. They are primarily a location that provides help to anyone who has experienced “family violence, elder abuse, child abuse, hate crimes, human trafficking, or other crimes” (OSP website). In addition to this, they share the space with nonprofits of all varieties from around San Diego County. When the opportunity to connect with One Safe Place presented itself, we were excited to get on board, as we knew it would be a great way to offer our services more prominently in North County.
Services & Education
The services we offer at One Safe Place include providing family meetings and memory screenings for those who can’t make it down to our main office in Serra Mesa. At the moment, we have clinical service staff members on site on Mondays and Thursdays. As far as education, we plan to provide classes at OSP throughout the year and use it as one of our North County education locations moving forward. We’re looking to offer four public classes per year, approximately one every three months. This gives us the opportunity to provide education to people who may not be able to make it to classes at other locations. We held our first class, Dementia 101, at OSP on March 8th, 2023. Going forward we will continue to offer a selection of different classes that will touch upon caregiving and planning.
How this partnership benefits the public
A major benefit of partnering with One Safe Place is that we can make direct referrals to other partners and they can make direct referrals to us. For example, there was a client in North County who was in need of meal delivery services, and we were able to contact another partner there, Meals on Wheels, and refer the client to them to fulfill that need. Other partners, including law enforcement, are also able to refer clients to us when their organization can’t fulfill a specific need and it falls under our specialties. Aside from referrals, we can also assist partners who encounter client situations involving dementia, and our Clinical Care Coaches may consult on those cases.
Through our time so far at One Safe Place, we’ve been able to connect with many other nonprofits and North County community resources, which we can now use to help our clients in more ways than before. We also participate in OSP’s trainings and events when relevant for our client population. For instance, one of our Clinical Care Coaches spoke at the Elder Protection Counsel meeting which was held at OSP in the fall.
To stay up to date on our upcoming plans and education dates at One Safe Place, sign up for our biweekly newsletter and follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn).
By Braulio Ambriz
