SHTC Social Enterprise Announced as D CEO Awards Finalist
ARLINGTON, Texas (May 20, 2024) – D CEO and Communities Foundation of Texas announced Thursday its finalists for the D CEO Nonprofit Awards, including SafeHaven as a finalist for the Social Enterprise category. SafeHaven’s Social Enterprise Program is one of six finalists for the award, which will be announced on July 25.
SafeHaven’s Social Enterprise program, led for the past two years by Director of Social Enterprise Lindsay Zehentbauer, has two key components: a resale store and a fee for service program.
The resale store, Berry Good Buys, accepts donations to resell with all profit going back into SafeHaven programs. Berry Good Buys also has a voucher program where families seeking resources at SafeHaven can shop for items in the store for free. Additionally, the resale store has a paid internship program for domestic violence survivors who face barriers of finding employment.
Under Zehentbauer’s leadership, the store has been renovated and progressively grown. In February 2024, Berry Good Buys broke its monthly sales record – selling over $100,000 in merchandise. Prior to Zehentbauer becoming the Director of Social Enterprise, the previous highest month generated $79,000 in revenue.
Zehentbauer is also researching new ways to expand SafeHaven’s Social Enterprise program, including utilizing the agency’s professional experts to provide unique presentations, educational opportunities, and other resources for a fee. In March 2024, SafeHaven hosted its first virtual Symposium for Battering Intervention and Prevention Professionals. A total of 83 professionals from across the United States attended the symposium, which generated $2,845 in revenue.
SafeHaven’s Social Enterprise program allows the agency to continue providing robust and life-saving resources to domestic violence survivors and their children. Funding from Social Enterprise helps protect victims from immediate danger, heal from traumatic experiences, gain self-sufficiency, and start new lives free of violence.
This year’s D CEO Awards program attracted a record number of nominations—more than 800—demonstrating the depth and strength of the nonprofit community in North Texas and deep engagement with the companies that support them. Multiple judging sessions were held by D CEO editors, who named a total of 135 finalists. All finalists will be recognized in D CEO’s August issue and at an exclusive awards event in July, where the winners in each category will be revealed.
About SafeHaven
SafeHaven’s mission is to end domestic violence through safety, support, prevention and social change.
Tarrant County’s only state-designated family violence program, SafeHaven has enabled thousands of women and children to rebuild safe, independent lives for more than 40 years. Vital services include the county’s only 24-hour emergency shelters, 24-hour crisis hotline, legal services, children’s programming, and evidence-based prevention curriculum. The agency also operates the county’s largest accredited program for domestic violence offenders.
We believe everyone deserves relationships that are free of fear, so we confront domestic violence in our community at every level - walking alongside survivors at every step in their journey and working with our community to drive solutions that improve our response to this pervasive problem.