Rapid Rehousing is a program ran through Safe Haven that is focused on helping the homeless of Statesboro a safe place to live and regroup while looking for more permanent housing.

Debra Vives, Delia Mobly and Jamie Walker know all too well the effects of homelessness in the area and how desperate the need for assistance is.

Up until now, Safe Haven has tried to help those who were homeless as much as possible but now have the Rapid Rehousing program to relocate homeless men and women who do not have any prior history with domestic violence.

“In this program, we help the homeless transition into permanent hoouses. We assessment each homeless situation based on their needs to decide on a time line of how long they will need help to reach or maintain independence. They can always ask for our resources or the community resources,” Jamie Walker, director of the Rapid Rehousing program, said.

Unfortunately, the leaders of Safe Haven can not physically take in and support people who have not suffered from domestic violence, but Rapid Rehousing is a way they help as much as possible with the homeless population in Statesboro.

“The men and women who come to us for help that are suffering from domestic violence are homeless. They have nowhere to go and some have families that we help out also,” Debra Vives, director at Safe Haven, said.

The homeless people of Safe Haven are only a portion of the population in Statesboro. There were still a group of homeless people that could not be reached through Safe Haven. This allowed Open Hearts Community Mission to answer the call and send help where it was needed.

Open Hearts Community Mission is a group of people dedicated to feeding the hungry, and sheltering those who do not have homes. After already serving more than 400 people in the community, the shelter now holds 30 beds and has enough room for living spaces for many people in the community.

The shelter is centered around providing a Christian lifestyle and hires individuals who are “Christ-centered…with strong backgrounds in management of mission-driven homeless shelters,” according to the community mission’s newsletter. The shelter also offers a wide range of things to help those who come to live a life of self-sufficiency and financial management.

The shelter is open from dinner time to breakfast and has family suites, kitchen, dinning, women and men separate living areas, laundry rooms, storage areas and men and women dorm rooms.