Safelight has been serving survivors of violence, abuse, and exploitation in Western North Carolina since 1984, providing a comprehensive continuum of care that takes individuals from crisis to stability. What distinguishes Safelight is its whole-person, trauma-informed approach — offering onsite access to mental health, medical, legal, housing, and employment services all in one place, and serving survivors of any form of violence or abuse, including domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, elder abuse, and child abuse. In the past year, Safelight helped 1,312 survivors, 40% of whom were children, filling nearly 23,000 shelter bed nights, delivering more than 1,500 counseling sessions, and providing prevention education to 400 school-age students.

In Transylvania County specifically, Safelight is stepping in to fill a critical gap left when the county’s Child Advocacy Center (CAC) closed in 2024. Called upon by the District Attorney’s office and the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office, Safelight has been providing CAC services to the county since November 2024 — already assisting more than 35 children in that short time. The CAC model is designed to ensure that child abuse survivors tell their story only once, to a trained professional, rather than repeating their trauma across multiple agencies and appointments. It coordinates law enforcement, DSS, the DA’s office, medical providers, and mental health services together, producing better outcomes for children and legally defensible evidence for investigators.

Lake Toxaway Charities is proud to support Safelight’s work to establish a full Child Advocacy Center presence in Transylvania County, ensuring that our community’s most vulnerable children have access to the coordinated, compassionate care they deserve.