Cleveland Rape Crisis Center expanding services

Cleveland Rape Crisis Center last week announced it will expand its services for survivors of rape and sexual abuse, thanks to funding through the Victims of Crime Act program administered by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Crime Victim Services Division.

The funding will allow the center to maintain and enhance its services in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties.

On Oct. 11, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office awarded more than $4.6 million in funding to Cleveland Rape Crisis Center through the VOCA program, and the State Victim Assistance Act (SVAA) program. According to a news release, these funds are awarded on an annual basis.

This year’s award increased over the prior year by $1.5 million.

“More survivors are now reaching out to Cleveland Rape Crisis Center than ever before, and we are responding to an unprecedented demand for services,” said Sondra Miller, president and CEO. “These funds will allow the center to maintain and enhance the specialized services we provide to survivors in Northeast Ohio. Thanks to this funding from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, we will provide healing services to more survivors in more places than ever before.”

The funds will allow Cleveland Rape Crisis Center to maintain its victim assistance, counseling and 24hour services in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties, and will allow the center to expand in the following areas:

• A new, standalone Eastside Cleveland office location, to provide enhanced services for survivors who live on the Eastside of Cleveland. The office will provide counseling, case management, victim services, Project STAR (Sex Trafficking Advocacy and Recovery) services and community outreach.

• A new, standalone Lake County Office, relocating the center’s current office in Mentor, to meet the growing demand for services in that area. The office will also provide counseling, case management, victim services, Project STAR (Sex Trafficking Advocacy and Recovery) services and community outreach, and will allow the center to enhance the services it provides in the Lake County area. The Center has operated an office within the offices of Beacon Health in Mentor since 2012.

• Enhancement of its Project STAR (Sex Trafficking Advocacy and Recovery) program, which provides specialized services for survivors of sex trafficking, including victim assistance, counseling, and case management. The enhanced program will allow the center to provide enhanced care and support and work to meet the growing demand for services for survivors of sex trafficking.

• Creating a new Case Management program, which will allow the center to make specialized referrals and connections for survivors, ensuring that they can access tools and resources in the community that can help them heal.

The center will also hire 15 new direct service positions, bringing its staff size to 80, to support the new office locations, programs and enhanced services.

“Following a year of substantial increases in the number of survivors reaching out to access the center’s services, we are pleased to be able to hire additional staff so that we can enhance our services and ensure that each survivor who reaches out to the center can receive the highest level of care,” Miller said.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said he is pleased to provide this grant to Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, to maintain and expand its comprehensive services and support to survivors of sexual violence in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties.

“Thanks to the hard work of Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, more survivors of sexual violence in Northeast Ohio will be able to access the services they need to move forward with their lives.”

For more information, visit cleveland rapecrisis.org or call 216-619-6194.

The Center’s 24-hour Crisis & Support Hotline is 216619-6192 (call/text) or clevelandra pecrisis. org/chat.