Our Story

Anthony’s Safe Haven was created from lived experience, deep reflection, and an unshakable belief in healing.

Founded by therapist and advocate Shantel Dixon, LMSW, Anthony’s Safe Haven is the result of a long journey through personal trauma, loss, and a desire to build what didn’t exist: a safe, healing-centered space for youth, families, and communities impacted by systems, generational cycles, and emotional pain.

Shantel knows what it’s like to grow up without protection, without stability, and without access to care. Her life was shaped by abandonment, abuse, and mental health struggles. But through healing and her work as a therapist, she realized something powerful:

“You can’t go back and change what happened—but you can build what’s missing for someone else.”

Named in honor of Anthony, a young boy who suffered silently with trauma and lost his life too soon, this organization honors those who needed support, but never received it in time. His story—and Shantel’s—represent so many others who are overlooked, misunderstood, and expected to survive without support.

Anthony’s Safe Haven is for:

  • Children impacted by trauma or removed from their homes

  • Parents working toward reunification and healing

  • Veterans and adults navigating PTSD and mental illness

  • Students struggling in school due to emotional or behavioral needs

  • Anyone who deserves mental health care but can’t afford it

We are building a network of trauma-informed group homes, outpatient services, school-based support, and family healing programs to help people not only survive but truly recover and thrive.

This is more than a program.
It’s a mission.
A movement.
A place where the forgotten are seen—and the broken begin to mend.

Anthony’s Safe Haven is where trauma meets healing and lives are rebuilt.

Anthony was just 17. He struggled silently with trauma and didn’t have access to the support he needed. His story and his memory are why this Safe Haven exists.

Today, Shantel Dixon is a licensed therapist, mother, and the founder of Anthony’s Safe Haven. She became the person she once needed and now builds spaces of healing for others still finding their way.

This is our founder, Shantel Dixon, at age 16pregnant and placed in a group home. She was navigating the system, carrying trauma, and searching for safety she never truly had.”