Sondra Hernandez Staff writer August 26, 2024

A new $10 million facility Mongomery County nonprofit Children’s Safe Harbor in Conroe is now under construction with the goal of better serving the needs of children who have been abused. 

The 45,000-square-foot building will be on Conroe’s Loop 336 East and is expected open next fall.  

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“Some people think that sexually assaulted and abused children are broken and can’t be healed, but we know better,” said Children’s Safe Harbor executive director Victoria Constance. “When we can find investigative healing, space and justice for them, they really do go on and they grow and have families and jobs, and they contribute.” 

What is Children’s Safe Harbor?

The organization is a Children’s Advocacy Center that has served the Montgomery County community and surrounding counties for 26 years by bringing justice, healing and hope to child victims of sexual and physical abuse.

According to information from the nonprofit, in 2023 the agency provided services to 2,302 children ages 2 through 17 and reviewed 8,928 reports of child abuse in Montgomery, Walker and San Jacinto counties. The group has conducted 26,500 forensic interviews in 25 years. 

What is the new center look like? 

The new center will be on 17 acres. The first floor, which will wrap around a healing garden, will house a law enforcement area, a conference and training center for community events and a medical clinic. 

The second floor will offer natural lighting to create a comfortable place for children and families to tell their stories and participate in counseling. The second floor also will house a gym and dining area for staff. 

Pines line the perimeter of the property offering a space for privacy and healing, Constance said. The construction progress may be followed on the Children’s Safe Harbor website. 

Who funded the new facility? 

In June 2022, Woodforest Charitable Foundation committed $2.5 million toward the naming rights of the nonprofit’s new and expanded facility. In 2023, state Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, helped secure $5 million from the Department of Family and Protective Services to construct the center. 

Other community donors brought the total to $10 million. Lead donors include Dan and Judge Lisa Michalk, Mike and Vanessa Manners, Joy-Dawn Colburn, Ron Cook and Mike Stoecker.

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How did this project get started? 

The project for a new facility began in 2016. The nonprofit launched in 1998. 

At the time, Lisa Michalk was a young prosecutor in Montgomery County who was tasked with starting a children’s advocacy center. She said children were previously interviewed in the same interrogation rooms as defendants in criminal cases. 

“We needed a place for people to tell their stories who were witnesses to a violent crime or were themselves a victim of a violent crime. They needed a place to be able to tell someone what happened to them,” Michalk said. 

Constance was selected as the leader for the group and has been the nonprofit’s only executive director and CEO for 26 years. 

The design of the building is from Tramonte Design Studio, Tellepsen is the general contractor and Gauge Real Estate Partners is assisting with coordination of the project. 

Matt Rodrique is a 25-year member of law enforcement and the current board president for Children’s Safe Harbor. 

“This is good work, this is good fighting evil,” he said of the new facility. “We’re probably also one of the few organizations who hopes to go out of business. If we do, then there’s no one hurting kids. It’s unlikely to happen, but it’s a hope we’re holding on to.” 

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