Mayor proclaims National Safe Place Week in Hattiesburg

Hattiesburg, Miss. - Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker proclaims the week of March 18-24 as National Safe Place Week.

The yellow and black signs on the side of buildings, that reads “SAFE PLACE” throughout Hattiesburg represents a safe place for children to take shelter from dangerous situations.

“Each safe place site is trained to contact us. We come out, they are not to ask a lot of questions, we come out and we take the child to the shelter. We contact the parent and let them know they’re there. It’s voluntary but we house them 21 days free of charge. So our job is to get them back home safely,” South Mississippi Children's Center of Canopy Solutions, Teri Gay explained.

Canopy Children's Solutions hosted the ceremony recognizing several businesses and organizations that serve as safe place locations, with certificates of appreciation on Thursday.

There are currently 30 safe place sites in Hattiesburg. If you would like to make your business or organization location a safe place site call South Mississippi Children’s Center Shelter at 1-800-635-9356