About Us
Betty Griffin Center operates a 54-bed emergency shelter, six transitional apartments, and provides outreach services, training and education throughout St. Johns County, Florida.
We employ 62 full-time staff and 14 part-time staff. Program staff are trained and certified in the areas of domestic and sexual abuse. All staff members also have additional specific credentials based on their job function. Programs are provided in St. Augustine, Julington/Fruit Cove, Ponte Vedra and Hastings at schools, the courthouse and at community partner agency locations.
Our Mission
The mission of the Betty Griffin Center is to offer protection and quality services for the victims of domestic violence and their minor children and/or victims of sexual assault and their families in St. Johns County, Florida through the operation of a shelter offering assistance, counseling and transitional support.
We also educate the community about services provided and raise awareness on the problems of domestic violence and sexual assault to break cycles of violence.
Our Story
The Betty Griffin Center was founded in 1990 by concerned citizens and incorporated as the Safety Shelter of St. Johns County to develop plans to provide shelter for local victims of domestic violence and their children. In 1992, the nonprofit agency contracted with a local motel for space and started a 24-hour crisis line and court advocacy program.
By 1994, the agency purchased and opened Betty Griffin House as permanent shelter. The shelter expanded in 1998 to meet local demand, and a sexual assault program was added the same year.
Today, Betty Griffin Center shelters more than 550 victims of domestic and sexual abuse annually, operates a 24-hour help line, provides professional counseling for victims of domestic and sexual abuse, provides age-appropriate violence prevention training and operates two thrift stores at Julington Square and Anastasia Square to assist in funding the agency’s ongoing operations.
