As Bristol Bay swells in size this summer, Dillingham’s shelter SAFE wants people to know that its resources are there for anyone who needs them. KDLG’s Christina McDermott sat down with SAFE’s Outreach and Education coordinator, Gregg Marxmiller, to talk about the shelter’s advocacy and resources. Here’s that conversation, edited for time and clarity.
Content warning: The following piece contains reference to domestic violence and sexual assault and may not be suitable for all listeners.
Gregg Marxmiller: Hello, my name is Gregg Marxmiller and I’m the Outreach and Education Coordinator at SAFE. I really appreciate you taking some time and talking about SAFE’s services.
Christina McDermott: Well thank you for calling, Gregg. So what is SAFE offering generally and what should people know this summer about what SAFE offers?
Marxmiller: SAFE is primarily a domestic violence and sexual assault response agency. We respond to advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault - also stalking and other types of interpersonal violence. We offer services that address that. Our primary service that we offer - our direct services – are advocacy.
We offer advocacy in a lot of different ways, both personal and systems-led advocacy. Advocacy basically is like ‘Big Sister Big Brother’ kind of thing, where we'll help people navigate through some of the tough times in their life, especially if there's been violence in the home or within family relationships. Or, if there's been an assault, sexual assault, we can help with that - navigating the system.
McDermott: Who can access SAFE? Do you have to live here full time? Or is it for anybody?
Marxmiller: Anybody can access SAFE regardless of gender expression, regardless of financial situation, regardless of where you live, creed, makeup of your skin color. Anything.
We offer our services in the realm of trying to help people to become whole after a violent crime has been committed against them, and to help people survive this deeply difficult time in their lives.
And I probably should mention that while we prefer people to be sober to access our services, we don't require that because we understand that people may be in all kinds of different levels of what's going on. As long as we don't need a higher level of care, like their danger to themselves or to other people, call us. Even if you're not sober, just give us a call. Let us know. We'll try to see what we can do to help you out. We may need other people to help you out for us, but we'll be there for you.
Our crisis line is 24 hours. We have advocates at SAFE 24 hours. We do higher-level advocacy. We also will help with legal advocacy. We do court lookups, court notifications [and] accompaniment to court to seek justice for people that have been victims of these terrible crimes.
McDermott: You mentioned that anybody with any financial situation can come in. But, does this cost people anything if they're gonna come in and receive help?
Marxmiller: No, we do not charge people. We actually cannot charge people. People that have had these crimes committed against them - they didn't want these crimes to be happening to them. Unfortunately, somebody committed these crimes against them.
And so we're a victim service agency. Just go ahead and walk through the door or call us and we may not be able to do all the things that you need. But we can help you find what you need to access services such as counseling. We don't do counseling. We work with Behavioral Health. There's a few other things that we don't have the staff for, but we know where you can find that help.
McDermott: SAFE is a place that is going to point you to resources for behavioral health and you don't have to be sober to go there. If you are struggling with substance use disorder, are you able to go and get references for where to get care from SAFE?
Marxmiller: Yes. There's a philosophy called ‘every door is the right door’ that we practice here in Dillingham with other agencies and that is we'll try to find the right doors for you because we understand that people don't know how everything works. There's a lot of services available to people and not everybody knows about those. It's not something people need to know until they need it.
McDermott: Thank you. Anything else you think people need to know especially going into the fishing season? We have a lot of new people in town mingling and mixing.
Marxmiller: I think I would say to the Fleet and to people coming to town for the first time that SAFE’s services are for you as well. You can call SAFE independently of where you work or who you work for. And if you have questions, we can help you out, or we can try to help you out with finding the right answers.
I would also suggest looking at our websitewww.safebristolbay.org. There's a lot of information there, including our community calendar if you're looking for things to do that are fun and in Dillingham. Or, [our] community resource guide for Bristol Bay Area - like if you don't know what the ‘BB’s mean. Bristol Bay Native Association has created a resource guide that we also mirror on our website.
You can find more information about the shelter on SAFE's website. The site includes details on the 16-bed shelter, information on interpersonal violence in Alaska and links to other support organizations. It also has contact information for advocates in Dillingham and in surrounding communities. And, Marxmiller says, you can also call, or walk in the shelter’s door, at any time.
SAFE’s website: http://www.safebristolbay.org/
