Saving Grace gets grant to help Mary’s Place

Meyer Memorial Trust, a private foundation not connected to Fred Meyer, Inc., recently awarded $20,050 to Saving Grace to support Mary’s Place, Saving Grace’s supervised visitation and exchange center.

Specifically, this grant will pay for technical assistance for a six month study and sustainability plan for Mary’s Place.

“We are grateful for the support of Meyer Memorial Trust for Mary’s Place. Mary’s Place serves a critical need for children and parents at a time when ensuring safety is a primary concern. This study will provide guidance to ensure Mary’s Place is available for Central Oregon families well into the future,” said Janet Huerta, Saving Grace Executive Director.

Mary’s Place Supervised Visit & Exchange Center is a program of Saving Grace. Mary’s Place increases safety for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and child abuse by providing supervised visits or safe exchanges in a secure setting.

Mary’s Place is the only program of its kind in Central Oregon and one of just 84 nationwide.

Mary’s Place has been funded over the past six years by federal Safe Havens grants, court filing fees and general Saving Grace donations. With the grant coming to end next year Saving Grace and Mary’s Place staff are working to secure other funding to ensure the programs will not have to scale back at all. This study will help in the process.

Saving Grace is the sole provider of emergency services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in Central Oregon. It offers the only 24-hour hotline in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties.

In addition, Saving Grace has a 24-bed confidential shelter in Deschutes County and has established seven outreach centers throughout all three counties, including Mary’s Place, one of only three supervised visitation centers in the state.

Saving Grace strives to be a leader in its field: its stable and strong infrastructure has been recognized by state funding sources; they are regularly requested to consult on standards for existing and new programs; and Saving Grace was also ranked one of the “100 Best Nonprofits” in Oregon to work for in 2009, 2010, 2011 and most recently in 2012 as the 4 th best medium- sized non profit by Oregon Business Magazine.

Saving Grace provides confidential and free domestic violence and sexual assault services. For more information please visit

www.saving-grace.org or call 541-382-9227.