U.S. Senator John Kennedy Visits Safe Haven Campus with Members of the Safe Haven Foundation

Pat Brister, St. Tammany Parish President, joined U.S. Senator John Kennedy, and Louisiana State Senator Jack Donahue, for a presentation while visiting the Safe Haven campus in the Mandeville area. The visit was organized by Donahue, who is also the chairman of the newly formed Safe Haven Foundation — established to act as a support arm of the Safe Haven Project and to augment the funding of certain aspects of the project through volunteerism, fundraising and raising public awareness.

“This project is the result of leadership,” said U.S. Senator John Kennedy. “The leaders in St. Tammany took a problem —the closure of Southeast Hospital — and turned it into a long-term solution with the Safe Haven initiative.”

Louisiana State Senator Jack Donahue lauded the visit as an opportunity for Senator Kennedy to get an up-close look at the progress underway at the campus, and the work that is still needed.  “Safe Haven is making a difference on the North Shore and surrounding areas.  Senator Kennedy is coming to visit the facilities and to get an update on the great work that is being done.  His continuing interest in Safe Haven is another key to its success.”

“Even though Safe Haven is still in its early stages, we continue to work on bringing the entire campus to life,” Said Pat Brister, St. Tammany Parish President. “It is absolutely essential that we make people aware of what is already available at the facilities out here — the NAMI St. Tammany Day Center, Fontainebleau Treatment Center and Northlake Behavioral Health, to name a few. We still have much to accomplish at Safe Haven, and support from the top down is critical to achieving success with this model, and ultimately helping people with behavioral health needs.”

Initiatives underway include: The NAMI St. Tammany Day Center, now open and providing transportation; in the first quarter of 2019, ground is expected to be broken on the Crisis Receiving Center— considered the anchor of the Safe Haven facility model; work is expected to begin in 2019 on the green infrastructure project grant-funded by the LA Safe initiative; and the Family Promise Day Center — the signature project of the Safe Haven Foundation.