The Safety Center’s work with youth started with Therese Topasna around 1998. Therese included presentations to the Filipino and Samoan teenage population, as well as to college students. She started a pilot project at a local high school working with young women, which we helped Asian Counseling and Referral Service include in their services, due to lack of staffing and support at the Safety Center.

Since then, the Safety Center hired a Men’s Campaign Coordinator to work with men and domestic violence as well as with young men, and a Young Adult Program Coordinator who concentrates on working with the younger population. In 2001, we started working with Nathan Hale High School and then by the end of 2002, we worked with Nathan Hale, Chief Sealth, and Roosevelt High School. We have also done work with Franklin High School in developing their API Youth groups. Most of these API high school groups continue on today, because of the groundwork developed by Youth and Young Adults throughout the years at the Safety Center.