Feel free to contact us. Safe Haven is a valuable resource to God's work in Newark, and we welcome everyone who wants to partner with us.

What is Crossover?Crossover is Safe Haven's teen studio. We offer middle school and high school students with a safe place to learn, create, hang out, and grow.

What is SHAC? Healthy Snacks - Here at S.H.A.C. we understand the importance of healthy eating habits. Most of the children in our community are raised in homes where a typical meal consists of processed foods with very little nutritional value. At SHAC we introduce our students to creative snacks that are both healthy and taste good.Homework Help - Every day from 3:30-4:15 homework gets done!Art Program - Our students attend art class once a week. At the start of the school year our students learned about the elements of art, color theory and got to experiment with different art materials. They also learned the importance of doing ones own work and respecting all styles of art work, no matter how different or weird it may seem. The second half of the year our students learned about some famous artists and their styles of art. After learning about the artist and their art work the students then created their own art specific to each artist they learned about. Our focus for the art program is to give our students the opportunity to express themselves in a judge free environment, while equiping them with the tools and knowledge that allow them to be comfortable with the materials they are using.Social Development - Teaching the skills needed to survive in the real world.Chapel Time - Learning the Bible and understanding God's promises fufilled for us in Jesus Christ.Tutoring - Specialized Tutoring for students struggling in math and reading.

My name is Kortlyn Shoemaker aka, Korts McGorts, Kort Snort, Kort, or simply Princess of the Garden. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, lived in NYC for four years and somehow ended up in Newark, NJ. I live in my pink apartment with my dog Sir Winston of Brill. I first came to Newark 6 years ago on a mission trip. Our job for the week was to dig dirt out of the basement. That basement is now Safe Haven's youth center. God called me back to Newark 2 years ago where I started teaching Sunday School and working in the community on the weekends. I moved to Newark in spring 2009 and joined the Safe Haven team in September of 2009 as the Art Director. I'm also the Community Garden Coordinator for the Safe Haven Community Garden. I'm currently working on obtaining city owned land so that we can expand our community garden to impact more members of our community. Living and working in this community has challanged me in many ways and has strengthened my relationship with our Father, opened my eyes to His grace and mercies and has given me a deeper understanding of the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to have so many friends and family members supporting me on this journey God has called me on.

Al Santino has been serving as Program Consultant and more recently Director of Operations at Safe Haven since July, 2010. He has served in community development ministries in the New York City area since 1986. From 1986 to1990 he worked with Here’s Life New York, the inner city arm of Campus Crusade for Christ, where he helped develop discipleship ministries and support groups for people with life controlling problems. In 1990 he founded and became Director of Help House, a residential program for men recovering from substance abuse, homelessness, prison consequences, and related issues. In 1999, together with his wife Haydee, he helped launch the Bronx Christian Study Center, which provided a biblical curriculum as well as GED tutoring and remedial education for adults. Al took on his present responsibility with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee as Church and Community Consultant for the Northeast region in October, 2004. This includes serving as Director of the Northeast Community Transformation which helps equip churches and community organizations for the work of development and social justice. He obtained a Doctor of Ministry from Erskine Theological Seminary in May, 2010. The Santinos are currently involved on the leadership team of Open Door Fellowship, a new church plant in East Harlem, New York City. They have a ten year old son, Lorenzo.

Nelda Cerynik is our Master Administrator so basically she runs the show. She keeps everyone in line and we couldn't function with out her. Her sense of humor, love for the kids and witty sarcasm is only matched by her sweet organizing skills and accounting kung-fu...

Mike has 11 years experience working with teens in a not-for-profit environment and 7 years of professional experience as an artist, designer and instructor with an emphasis on urban youth culture. He is a6 year resident homeowner in Orange New Jersey, with strong and growing ties to churches and organizations devoted to youth empowerment and education in Essex County. He and his wife Page have been married for 12 years and have 2 children, Bella, 6, and Abraham, 3.

Nelda Cerynik is our Master Administrator so basically she runs the show. She keeps everyone in line and we couldn't function with out her. Her sense of humor, love for the kids and witty sarcasm is only matched by her sweet organizing skills and accounting kung-fu...

Mike has 11 years experience working with teens in a not-for-profit environment and 7 years of professional experience as an artist, designer and instructor with an emphasis on urban youth culture. As a 6 year resident homeowner in Orange New Jersey Mike has developed strong and growing ties to churches and organizations devoted to youth empowerment and education in Essex County. He and his wife, Page, have been married for 12 years and have 2 children, Bella, 6, and Abraham, 3.

David Comeau has been serving at Safe Haven as SHAC co-director since September 2010. He first came to safe haven on a series of short-term mission trips while in college from 2006-2010. David grew up working with youth at a non-profit ministry in Southeast DC. In college David began a homeless ministry in Newport News where he went to school. David spent his summers traveling and doing missions overseas, as a youth intern in Falls Church, VA, and working in Newark. After graduating from Christopher Newport University in May 2010, David moved to Newark to join Safe Haven staff. His primary focus at Safe Haven is training and mentoring our high school staff. David also loves spending free time in our community with the families of the youth we serve at Safe Haven. David also serves as our missions team coordinator in the spring and Summer and loves working with high school and college students who come to Newark on missions trips. David is currently finishing up a program in urban youth ministry through Fuller Seminary. He has also benefited greatly from the training on community development and youth empowerment through the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative. David is excited to see God raising up high school students in our neighborhood to be disciples of Christ and community leaders.

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OUR MISSION“To make right what has been broken in Newark by educating, equipping, and empowering the next generation.""To be developed for God's Glory and the joy of others." That is what you will hear our youth say when asked that question. We all are truly in the process of and are learning through living in community together how to love God and each other better.Our team is here because God has called us to be planters, sowing the seeds of gospel truth into the hearts of inner city children and youth, with the hope that someday they will sprout into oaks of righteousness for the glory of God and the joy of all people. We are here in response to Christ’s sacrifice for us and in view of such mercy, we desire to sacrifice our time, resources, gifts and abilities for the children and youth of our community so that they may see, believe and be transformed into disciples of Christ that do the same. We desire to bear witness to the fullness of the gospel and its power to transform the physical, social, psychological, emotional and spiritual framework of our neighborhoods.

Our HistoryWe are a community development ministry of Trinity Reformed Church of the RCA. Our community simply calls us "The Church," as we do the work we believe the church should be doing. Trinity Church has been in this communtiy since 1856. Like many churches in urban centers, Trinity had fallen apart and forgotten its mission to serve the poor, broken and marginalized of this world. The building was in disarray, and about to be knocked down. In 2002 Dr. Bill Iverson had a vision to rebuild Trinity to be a place of hope for the community. Service teams of teenagers and adult volunteers came and began fixing the building. In 2003, Bill's grandson Danny Iverson joined his grandfather in this worthy and seemingly impossible endeavor. In 2006 Danny founded Safe Haven as a means to reach the youth of the community. Since then we have turned the 150 year old church building 2 blocks away from Hyatt court projects (crip headquarters in Newark) into a community center that develops youth on every level. Through creative empowerment of community members and partnerships with churches, the city, and business we have been able to develop effective and sustainable programs that transform the hearts and lives of every type of person regardless of their a race, religion, or social status. We recently finished a youth center equipped with a recording studio, a high profile computer lab, and a recreational center. This new “Safe Haven” has become the hot spot on the block for children and teenagers of the community and the programs we continue to develop out of this center are having an amazing impact. Safe Haven Urban Redemption headquarters is in a key location for effectively reaching at-risk youth. There are an estimated 2,500 youth within a 15 block radius of our center, three project housing complexes, four K-8th grade schools, and one high-school (East side High). Our building is located within four blocks of all three projects, and across the street from Hawkins street school.

Help with SHACEvery day, after school, 25 kids come over to Safe Haven for snacks, homework help, tutoring, music lessons, and to have a safe fun place where they learn about God"s love and make friends.

So what is S.H.A.C?Well.... It stands for Safe Haven After Class and it is the coolest after school program in the hood.Here's the many different components of SHAC.Healthy Snacks - Here at S.H.A.C. we understand the importance of healthy eating habits. Most of the children in our community are raised in homes where a typical meal consists of processed foods with very little nutritional value. At SHAC we introduce our students to creative snacks that are both healthy and taste good.Homework Help - Every day from 3:30-4:15 homework gets done!Art Program - Our students attend art class once a week with Miss Kortlyn. At the start of the school year our students learned about the elements of art, color theory and got to experiment with different art materials. They also learned the importance of doing ones own work and respecting all styles of art work, no matter how different or weird it may seem. The second half of the year our students learned about some famous artists and their styles of art. After learning about the artist and their art work the students then created their own art specific to each artist they learned about. Our focus for the art program is to give our students the opportunity to express themselves in a judge free environment, while equiping them with the tools and knowledge that allow them to be comfortable with the materials they are using.Social Development - Teaching the skills needed to survive in the real world.Spiritual Time - Learning the Bible and understanding God's promises fufilled for us in Jesus Christ.Tutoring - Specialized Tutoring for students struggling in math and reading.

Welcome

Thank you for joining us in our mission to redeem Newark by investing in the city's young people.We have a huge passion to see the curses in our communtiy reversed by radical unconditinal love put on display through authentic relationships. We are all community people, learning together how to serve and love "the hell" out of each other while reaching the next generation through strategic and intentional mentorship, reuniting the family, and empowering them to teach others to do the same.

MAKE ADONATION.

Safe Haven Urban Redemption483 Ferry Street, Newark NJ 07105Ph: 973-344-8717 Fax: 973-344-8228