Safe Harbor Church of Little Rock: A safe place to worship, work, and recover

By Miriam Dominguez

Safe Harbor Church of Little Rock is a self-supporting, non-denominational church and a licensed transitioning facility. Since opening its doors in 1997, they have been striving to better the Little Rock community. They achieve this by helping men who been paroled out of prison, suffer from addiction, or homeless. With Safe Harbor, they can turn their lives around.

Pastor Eric Alexander directs Safe Harbor and, with his Reliable Coordinator, Gary Wilson, and 8 other employees, they have made significant changes in many men’s lives. Pastor Alexander is himself an example of success, saying “past incarceration doesn’t equate to repeated offenses. I believe everyone that once had a self-destructive past, has a positive place in the community, provided they put forth their best efforts to be the best that they can be.”

Safe Harbor is a residential facility with 78 men currently housed there. They have a daily schedule set, everyone begins with morning devotion and then either go to work or to their assigned classes of the day. On Friday and Saturday, the men celebrate recovery and have scripture readings. Then on Sunday they have a church service headed by Pastor Alexander. They also have special guests and even other church congregations come join them on given services.

Safe Harbor provides the men with access to the Nehemiah program, a faith-based recovery support services program, and the Back to Work program, which places men in jobs with local companies. The Nehemiah program offers social and spiritual services including: relapse prevention, anger management, pastoral support and case management, drug screening, financial literacy, and fatherhood classes. The program fosters a sense of responsibility and teamwork because everyone there depends on each other to work in order to sustain the program. This shared responsibility is very helpful in keeping them on track to becoming great citizens.

Through the Back to work program, Safe Harbor has partnered with many great Central Arkansas companies in order to help these men get back into the workforce. Some partners include, Benton Fence Co., Little Rock Central Laundry, and Arkansas Wholesale Lumber, and Stratton Seed Company.

Safe Harbor goes above and beyond for these men who are trying to change for the better. Besides training them to become productive members of society and the workforce, another important goal is for these men to go back to their families and be the man/father they need. Reliable Coordinator, Gary Wilson, says, “Community is nothing but a big family. I believe our work here is bridging a gap for families.”

For the past 7 years, Safe Harbor has hosted a summer Friends & Family outing at Pinnacle Mountain. This event provides a great opportunity for the men to enjoy their family while on the road to recovery. The 2018 event had 250 attendees! Three other transitional facilities were also there to help and enjoy their time with the kids and families. There was plenty of food, games and fun for everyone.

Safe Harbor is doing a great job helping men get back on the right track. For any more information about the work they are doing, testimonies, or donations, call Safe Harbor Church of Little Rock at 501-374-5399, or visit their website: http://safeharborlittlerock.org/