Work overload

Something about the holiday season makes work seem busier. In our case this is actually true. The entire office has been busy. And, that's not necessarily because there have been more sexual assaults, but more people reporting. Our office is doing some amazing work with keeping up with our clients and making sure their needs are being met. Our counseling center is booming. We are working out all our kinks and getting our procedures in order to make the office run as efficiently as possible. Corey, Janet, and I have been trying to get more public awareness going. Corey has recently taken over our volunteer program. She is currently working up a volunteer brochure to explain what we do here at RCASA and then plans on reaching out to the University kids in the area as well as local churches. Janet has taken over keeping track of court advocacy. Making sure we all stay on target with what it means to be a court advocate. She's like the mom of our office. I'm currently trying to make contact with a couple of local high school to start up a Teens Against Sexual Assault program. It would be similar to a peer group. They would help contribute to public awareness efforts on campus as well as maintain some of our agency information in case anyone ever needs a way of getting in touch with us.

We recently held a training at the Rappahannock Regional Justice Academy on the Prison Rape Elimination Act. It was a lengthy training lasting about 8 hours. While it was a difficult topic I really learned a lot in observing the presentation. Prison guards have a very difficult job. My co-workers and I also saw that when doing a training like this people show up with their own personal history or knowledge of sexual assault. Which, automatically gives them an opinion. And, while we as a sexual assault center look at something one way they may come at it from a completely different angle. So, it was nice kind of hearing their thought process and comparing it to my own.

The month of December brings up several projects in the office. December 13, 2008 is our offices annual Cookie Connection. It's one of our big fund raising events. It's being held at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library in downtown Fredericksburg. We sell baked goods to raise money. And, the office gets to hangout together. Which, we are all about. The following week December 18, 2008 is our annual open house. It's a chance for the community to come by our office. See the new space. Find out what we're all about. Well, that's all for now. I'm hoping my other co-workers will get on and post soon.

Non-profit funding

According to Wikipedia, a non-profit is "a legally constituted organization whose objective is to support or engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit." But, the thing is non-profits need some profit in order to run. There are specific ways that NPO's go about getting money whether it's from private lenders or the government. And, there's only one way for us to prove that we are achieving what we want to achieve. Some of you out there may no what that is and some of you only think you know. But, I can say that I fully appreciate anyone who has to do quarterly reports and budgets and set up grant goals for their employees. This is a recent promotion in my job responsibilities. The last two weeks have been solidly devoted to tracking down our stats and client demographics so we can prove to our board and the community that we are doing something so important. And, that there is a need for our services. People can hear that, "1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be a victim of sexual assault in their lifetime," yet it still is not resonating with the world at large that those statistic are on the rise. And, will continue to go up every day with more and more people reporting. Sexual assault is still one of the most under-reported crimes that a person can go through. But, as someone who has been doing nothing but staring at numbers I can tell you in our town of Fredericksburg the numbers have increases significantly just within the last 3 months. This isn't a plea for money only but it's a plea for people to start becoming more aware of what is going on in your own town. Get involved. Volunteer. Find out how to be safe in your town. And, for people who want to see our numbers I am hoping to help generate a percentage report for the year and show what we have been doing with our money and our time in providing this valuable service. I hope to one day not need something entirely devoted to Sexual Assault/Trauma but until that day my office will continue to come in and help provide prevention to the communities and help change the numbers.

Letter from a concerned individual

So, I came into the office this morning and found an e-mail from a concerned female. I am posting her e-mail here in hopes to shed light on the media's portray of rape in television, films, etc. This e-mail is an opinion and does not reflect the opinion of RCASA.

I do not even know how to begin this email because I have never done this before. I have never been the type of person to write or call someone just to complain, but I think that this is an issue that should be put out in the open. I am writing as many organizations as possible to help fix the situation.

TV, music, internet, etc. all had a way of influencing young adults minds. Sadly, not everyone takes responsibility in what they are putting out there.

One of the most popular tv shows among young adults/college students is Family Guy. I myself have been a fan for years. One of the great things about Family Guy is that they push their jokes to the edge, but I believe that they are starting to go overboard on the matter of rape. It has lately bothered me with its several comments about rape, but it is out of hand now. They even had a short segment where a women was being raped screaming for help.


I am worried that by joking on this issue they are making it less serious and even hinting that it is ok to do. Family Guy has even hypocritically stated in their show that certain comments, even if they are joking, lead to others carrying them out. I am sure that Family Guy has to realize that a large portion of their viewers are young adults or college students that are still developing their minds and opinions. This really is disturbing since a great number of rapes happen in college settings by young men. With Family Guy putting an image out there that rape is a laughable matter, are they telling young men that this is a funny thing to do? I am truly scared that the numbers of rape will increase with all of these jokes on one of young mens favorite TV shows.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I just wanted to get the issue out there.

Conferences conferences everywhere

I know it's been awhile since my first post. And, trust me it's not for my lack of things to say. It has been a busy month here in the non-profit world. I have been in the office every day of during the month of October except for when I was busy traveling to conferences. The first conference I attended was October 17th and 18th. It was a Women's studies conference held in New Haven, CT. The topic of the conference was "Girl Culture and Girl Studies." It had a huge span of speakers from other colleges, non-profit organizations, Riot Grrrls, young women, girl scouts, college students, authors, etc. It was basically an entire weekend covering different aspects of how the media influences girls and how trauma can have a lasting effect. It was one of the best weekends I've ever had. And, not because I'm a women's studies nerd, but because it really helped show that I would has a purpose.

The next conference I attended was in Dallas, TX and it was about addressing Domestic Violence in the Muslim Community. This conference was a completely different facet to domestic/sexual assault. And, what I learned is that I really didn't know anything about the Muslim community and what I had been told was wrong. This conference was very in depth in the different aspects of the Muslim culture and how it has been mis-represented through media outlets. We discussed at length what culture is and how we identify to certain cultures. We went through several presentations on why it is so difficult for women in the Muslim community to have access to services. Which there were a multitude of things from fear of relying on services outside the community, language barrier, religious barriers, among others. I also learned that there are a lot of great women doing a lot of great things for their community whether it's educating outside of their community, being mentors, providing different public awareness trainings. Really regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and age we all are just trying to provide services to people who need it. We may pick passions that move us, but we know coming into non-profit that you will have to push your own boundaries and get outside of the comfort zone.

I like to think that because I am a child of a military family that all the moving around I did was preparation for my career at this moment. I know that regardless of what culture or environment I am in I can adapt and overcome adversity to bring services with ease to anyone. It's about giving up our comfort zone for the sake of another person. I really don't think I could imagine my life at this moment being any other way. As long as there continues to be an unheard voice there will be a non-profit group ready to speak on the behalf of them.

What does RCASA do?

Since starting my job at RCASA, I must have been asked the question, "Taryn what exactly does your job entail? What does your organization provide to the community at large?" at least once a day. At first, this question was posed to me by my parents, grand-parents, and extended family. I had spent most of college confusing them with the statement, "I'm a Women's studies major" like it was something I made up. Now I explain to them that I am one of the Community Outreach Advocates, which is just a small part of what RCASA does.

RCASA is a non-profit organization based out of Fredericksburg, VA. However, we serve Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, Caroline County, King George County, and the City of Fredericksburg. Our jurisdiction that we cover is located in between Richmond, VA and Washington D.C.. We live in an area that is growing on a daily basis and becoming more culturally diverse in what feels like every minute. However, the idea of sexual assault or rape is something that is hard for this area to wrap it's head around. The reason for this is when you drive into the city of Fredericksburg it's quaint shops, picturesque houses, and neighbors that wave as they drive or walk down the street. It is a town where people want to pretend that horrific crimes do not take place. Well, I am here to say that they do. And, we hear about only a small portion of them. But, when something like rape or sexual assault takes place our office is there.

In terms of crisis situations, we provide 24 hour Crisis Hotline, Emergency medical & hospital accompaniment, crisis support counseling. We offer services to the communities, for example, Educational Presentations, Prevention programs, court and legal accompaniment, and allied professional training. Our counseling services has just started a brand new Trauma Therapy Program, Individual therapy, Family Education, and Survivor Support Groups.

All in all, it's pretty much the best place to work regardless of the horrible things we deal with on a day to day basis. Look for more blogs from my fellow co-workers soon.