Safe Spaces Kits for evacuation shelters and other emergency locations help staff and volunteers quickly set up a protected area.

Safe Spaces is one of Save the Children's "signature programs" in U.S. emergencies and around the world. Under the supervision of caring adults, Safe Spaces provide children with a special area where they can play, socialize, express themselves and begin to recover through a variety of games and activities.

Watch video on the Safe Spaces program during the Southern California wildfires.

Safe Space Kits

In the U.S., Save the Children distributes kits with materials to help set up Safe Spaces in evacuation shelters and other locations. The kits can be used by staff and volunteers to set up structured activities for children, or in shorter-term scenarios, to provide ways for families and children to play together. The kits contain materials to mark off a special area for children; activity supplies such as art materials, books, blocks, scarves and balls; and materials to help schedule activities, check children in and out, and sanitize toys.

Save the Children is working with partners to pre-position Safe Space kits throughout the U.S. so they will be ready before disasters hit. Save the Children also trains volunteers in running Safe Spaces and setting up engaging activities for children. See an animated slide show about Safe Space Kits.

Helping Vulnerable Children Cope

Children are not passive victims of disasters – they hear, see, and absorb more than adults may expect. Rapidly setting up Safe Spaces and activities during an emergency can help children build on their own natural ability to "bounce back" by providing physical safety, structure, expressive activities, and activities to help the learning process continue. Parents and caregivers who concerned about the well-being of children can draw upon Save the Children's expert advice. Read "How to Help Kids Cope with Disaster: Ten Tips"

Partnering with the American Red Cross and New York City's Emergency Management Agency

Save the Children has a national partnership with the American Red Cross to create Safe Spaces in Red Cross evacuation shelters after disasters. We worked together to create Safe Spaces after wildfires forced thousands to evacuate their homes in Southern California in fall 2007. We also partnered in response to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, floods in the Midwest, and smaller-scale emergencies in 2007. In addition, the agency works with federal, state and local emergency responders and advocates to improve U.S. emergency management systems.

In New York City, for example, Save the Children and the city's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) signed an agreement to incorporate Save the Children's Safe Spaces program into New York City's emergency sheltering plan. Under the initiative, Save the Children will provide 1,075 Safe Space Kits for use in emergency shelters in New York City. As part of the plan, more than 1,000 volunteers will be trained to lead activities for children in shelters. The kits will be stored in OEM's shelter stockpile, along with other supplies that can be quickly deployed to as many as 509 pre-identified shelter locations.

Learn more about Save the Children’s disaster preparedness and response programs for children and communities in the United States.

Donate to the U.S. Emergencies Fund

Last Updated October 2008