Our Center operates a 24-hour crisis line. A trained advocate is on call to handle the call as appropriate. Our advocates are trained to provide crisis intervention, peer support, information and referral.
SARC provides accompaniment to the hospital when we are contacted by law enforcement, hospital personnel, or the survivor / family or friends. The trained advocate on call will meet the survivor at the hospital to provide support. The advocate will accompany them through the evidence exam and law enforcement interview. The survivor is given information on Crime Victims’ Compensation and other resources as appropriate. We also provide support if the survivor chooses not to report but needs to go to the hospital to be checked out physically for injuries and receive medications as appropriate.
We have an office that is open Monday through Friday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or by appointment, for anyone seeking in-person assistance with filing for Crime Victim’s Compensation, locating counseling resources, identifying other necessary social/medical services, as well as emotional support.
A full-time Education Coordinator is committed to providing a comprehensive sexual assault prevention curriculum within the middle and high schools of the Portland-Metro area. Alternative schools, youth groups and activity centers are also contacted.
We run nine-week long psycho-educational support groups three times a year for both teens and adult female survivors, as well as survivors of stalking, offering participants education, coping skills, validation and new choices to continue their healing process.
One of the newest additions to our Center is the offering of free Mental Health services. Individual counseling, in both English and Spanish, is available for adolescent and adult survivors of sexual violence.
When a survivor goes to the hospital for an evidence exam, their clothing may be held as evidence. Historically the hospitals have only been able to supply hospital scrubs for a survivor to wear home. With the help of donations and grants SARC is able to stock all hospitals in the county with T-shirts, sweats, and underwear for the survivor’s comfort and self-respect.
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