Welcome to the New Harbor House

We’re More than a Shelter

Where Hope Finds Help

Harbor House has become more than a shelter…it’s where hope finds help. When one experiences Harbor House, it’s as if they’re speaking to a trusted friend who makes them feel safe and believes their story. This trusted friend empowers them, provides them with the skills and knowledge needed to make the decision to leave an abusive relationship; and then provides them with the tools and opportunities to safely return to self-sufficiency. This friend listens carefully to their story and honors it, confidentially, without telling them what to do.

Pillars of Harbor House

Harbor House has a strong foundation and support system throughout the community. Together, we are the beacon of hope to eliminate domestic violence in our community. Survivors and their families can move forward in a positive and healthy direction through the following critical life-saving pillars that make Harbor House more than a shelter:

Safety

Safety 1

Safety – The most dangerous time for someone experiencing domestic abuse is when they attempt to flee their situation. Our number one priority for any survivor is that they are, first and foremost, safe. We work with them to ensure that a safety plan is in place and then we provide them with the support needed to follow through on the plan.

Shelter – We provide a safe-haven at no cost to survivors. Our main program is the 110-bed emergency shelter that is operated 24-hours a day for women, children, men and animal survivors of family violence. We are the only domestic abuse center in Florida with both a licensed daycare and kennel, which aligns with our holistic approach of wrap-around services that ensures all family members will be safe to heal and thrive. When families are thriving, so is our community as a whole.

Healing

Counseling – Our services also include targeted community outreach through 13 service sites throughout Orange County in an effort to educate and support drastically underserved areas to stem the tide of domestic abuse. Highly trained professionals are placed in secret locations to work through safety planning and provide the necessary guidance to a survivor.

Education – We offer survivors the opportunity for long-term support with financial and job training; and act as a resource to learn more about available funding. All of this enables a survivor and their families to return to self-sufficiency in a safe environment. We also offer training to the community at-large to recognize the signs of domestic abuse and what to do when it’s seen or heard, while keeping themselves safe during the process.

Justice

Advocacy & Justice – We provide a team of highly trained professionals who assist individuals seeking injunctions and a myriad of other legal matters. We deploy a team from the moment a 9-1-1 call is placed for a domestic abuse situation to ensure that the survivor has the necessary support the entire way through the legal process, from start to finish.