By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News
Last year, Swift County’s Safe Avenues program served 51 victims of domestic violence and housed 27 domestic violence victims in its shelter facilities. The numbers were up from previous years.
It also provided services to 12 sexual assault victims from Swift County in 2019 and of those victims six were under the age of 18, Safe Avenues Director Jen Johnson told the Swift County Board of Commissioners at their meeting Tuesday, Aug. 4.
Safe Avenues serves the residents of Swift, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Yellow Medicine, Kandiyohi, Renville, McLeod, and Meeker counties. It has an office in the Swift County Courthouse. Its phone number is 320-314-8500, or 866-223-1111.
“With COVID-19, we have seen quite an increase in the number of people who are seeking protective orders and fewer people seeking shelter,” Johnson said...