A new safety center is working to keep families together

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Geminus Community Partners for Child Safety opened a new safety center in South Bend. This new space offers support to families struggling with paying bills, substance abuse, behavioral issues, and more.

But most of the work starts right at the doorstep of the household. This organization partners with the Department of Child Services to be a helping hand before DCS has to get involved.

The safety center offers support for Saint Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, and Kosciusko counties. Before the doors opened at this new space, the group started helping over 200 kids with 113 of those coming from Saint Joseph County alone.

The team works to help families and also avoid disrupting day-to-day life. Vice President, Nicholas Neal says, “We're here to help, but because we want to curb the number of families involved in the system, right? We want to show that families just need a little assistance here and there where it doesn't take the entire system to come in and break up the family unit, displacement, replace. Think if it starts at prevention and getting those core resources, community resources for those families, we can avoid a lot of that.”

There are many ways to contact Geminus Community Partners for Child Safety. You can either visit the facility in person or call:

Office Number: (574) 318-4825

24 Hour Hotline: (888) 510-8183