Our Story
The Story of Safe Harbor
About 20 years ago, God gave me a vision of a beautiful country home surrounded by spacious land, with a peaceful, tranquil lake and trails as far as the eye could see. The home was tucked away in the country off the beaten path. I remembered thinking that was a place where people would come to get their perspectives back. It would be a place where they would come to be healed from their broken past, and a place where they would be made whole again. While seeing this vision, I got the strangest impression that God wanted me to help families become restored. I gladly accepted the invitation to restore individuals and families, not knowing how this would happen. Little did I know, it would be a long hard process of seeing this dream fulfilled.
Back in 2003, tragedy struck my family, leaving me shattered and hopeless. Domestic violence became a reality in my family and it left us wondering if we could ever heal from all of the shame and pain. Our once happy peaceful family home turned into a dangerous place that we had to quickly escape from. Amazingly with God’s grace, we made it out and began the painful, long steps to healing. From that terrifying experience in my life, I knew then that I never wanted to see a family torn apart like my family was. From that moment on, the calling to help families became stronger and stronger was within me. Armed with passion and a firm belief in the power of family, I knew God had called me to help families heal from their broken past and find restoration, wholeness, and peace.
Then I moved back to Atlanta in 2012 to be closer to my family. In 2016, I was led to start a nonprofit. Safe Harbor International Ministries was born. The puzzle pieces of my life began to come together. God showed me through my process of healing and restoration that He was my Safe Harbor. He became my safe place. And I know He has empowered me to reach back and provide safe places and resources for others.
Welcome to Safe Harbor!
Watch our welcome video to learn more about the founding history, present progress, and future goals of Safe Harbor.
About Marquetta Smith
Marquetta Smith is a certified Christian counselor with a master’s in social work. Throughout her career, Marquetta has counseled many families and victims who suffered from some traumatic event in their life. With the desire to help families heal, in 2016-2017, Marquetta was led to start a nonprofit in Georgia called Safe Harbor International Ministries, where she counsels individuals and families. This nonprofit provides individual and family restoration and healing from past traumas, situations, grief, loss, abuse, addictions, bullying, and so much more.
Along with using up-to-date, effective counseling techniques such as ideology, impact, and treatment approaches, she uses a solid foundation of biblical Christ-centered principles and wisdom along with the Holy Spirit to guide her in her direction to counseling individuals. She believes that if an individual can begin their healing process, the family can also start their process. Her philosophy is this: healthy individuals produce healthy families and healthy families make healthy communities.
Individuals who need counseling can go to our website at www.safeharborim.com for a free consultation to get started.
To support our families or individuals who need counseling, you can sponsor a family or individual that may need counseling services. They can go to our website to donate to sponsor an individual.