Safe Passage Children’s Advocacy Center in Colorado Springs to receive thousands of dollars in federal funding

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - The Safe Passage Children’s Advocacy Center for the Pikes Peak Region will receive $360,000 in congressional funds that will go toward its Co-Location Capital Campaign.

Located on 2335 Robinson Street in Colorado Springs, the center is unique to all other Children’s Advocacy Centers across the state in that it houses multiple agencies under one roof, that’s according to Maureen “Mo” Basenberg, Executive Director for Safe Passage.

“Everyone comes to work in our facility every day and is prepared for whatever a child may need after they make, what we call, really the bravest of statements to share that something has happened to them and that they’ve been the victim of a crime,” said Basenberg.

Agencies at the Colorado Springs location include: the Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, El Paso County Department of Human Services, UCHealth Forensic Nursing Team, and advocates for Safe Passage and Kidpower Colorado.

Basenburg adds that receiving this federal money is a big step towards finishing the site that can properly fit all the workers needed to help children in the midst of abuse investigations.

“All those partners that I shared with you that are in our building, they used to come in and out,” explained Basenberg. “They’d work a case, they’d be there as long as they could, but then they’d go back to their police operations center or department of human services headquarters.”

Safe Passage served 747 children across the state last year; 143 more children than they served in 2021, according to Basenberg, who adds that this volume of cases pushed the non-profit to begin their capital campaign to get more support through federal funds.

“This congressional funding helps us to finalize that campaign and really signifies that we’re done, this is ours, and it’s a huge testament again to what we’ve accomplished,” expressed Basenberg.

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