Annual Report2018

“M” is just one of the many individuals who disclose a sexual assault to us each year; she was a typical student at a local middle school, and from an upper middle class family. If we had not been educating in her school, we don’t know how long it may have taken her to recognize her abuse, speak up, and get competent, trauma-informed care. Statistics tell us there are many more victims like “M” who will at some point need our services. From our 24-hour confi dential crisis hotline, to free short-term counseling services, to prevention education programs, The Center is the only comprehensive sexual violence resource agency in Lower Fairfi eld County.

Thank you for your continued support of The Center. The #MeToo movement has opened the nation’s eyes to the public health crisis of sexual violence, and we have had our busiest year ever. Thanks to you, The Center has been able to provide crisis counseling services to 533 individuals and educated 22,911 children and adults during the last

fi scal year. As we enter our 40th year, we anticipate those numbers will continue to grow, particularly since we have added new support groups for survivors, the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Program is launching, and we have begun a Sexual Violence Prevention Collaborative program for interscholastic athletic programs. With your generous fi nancial support, we have added a counselor, a community educator, and a bilingual outreach coordinator to meet the needs of our diverse and growing population.

Because of our caring community, when victims like “M” have the courage to speak up, they will know where to go, and they will be believed. Thank you for your continued support.

Warmly,

Gayle WeinsteinPresident, Board of Directors

Mary Flynn Interim Director

Dear Friends,

Our Mission

The Center’s Programs

“As The Center educator continued to talk and explain what sexual harassment and assault were, I realized that I had been experiencing it and repressing it for a year. My fi rst instinct was to panic. Why was this happening to me? Will he ever get brought to justice? So after the presentation, I went up to the educator and asked her to talk. I explained my situation and I remember asking her, “What if he doesn’t get in trouble? What if no one believes me?”

I will never forget her response: “I believe you.”

Hearing that I had her support made me more confi dent in reporting my perpetrator. She took me to my guidance counselor, and then after explaining my story to her, took me along with my parents to the police where I fi led a police report. My advocate from the Center was there for me through it all. She made sure the police kept their boundaries and reminded me that what I was doing was brave and that I had control of my situation. Then after months of crisis counseling and unconditional support from The Center, and police meetings and statements, my perpetrator was brought to justice and sent to jail. I would have never come forward if it wasn’t for that presentation and the belief and support The Center provided for me.”

- M., sharing her experience with 8th grade Prevention Education

The mission of The Center for Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling and Education (The Center) is to provide counseling and support services to victims of sexual assault and to eliminate sexual violence through community-wide education programs.

The Center is the only agency providing free and confi dential services to victims of sexual assault in the eight towns of Lower Fairfi eld County: Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton. All of our services are available in English, Spanish and in Haitian Creole. Our services include:

24-HOUR HOTLINE The Center staffs a 24-hour English/Spanish hotline with counselors and more than 40 volunteer victim advocates, all of whom have completed 40 hours of state-certifi ed training.

SHORT-TERM CRISIS COUNSELING The Center provides up to 12 free confi dential sessions to adults and children, ages 14 and over, victimized by sexual violence. Services are also available for family members of victims. Our counselors meet clients either at our offi ces or a place that is more convenient for them.

ADVOCACY Our advocates are available to meet clients at hospitals in Greenwich, Norwalk and Stamford and at police stations to offer emotional support and aid during evidence-collection examinations, making police statements, etc.

(NEW) SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAMINER PROGRAM In 2017 The Center received the Impact Grant from Impact Fairfi eld County for a program designed to ensure every victim at an ER in the area is met with trauma-trained, timely, compassionate providers for evidence collection. This program provides care within 45 minutes of arrival at the ER.

INVESTIGATIVE TEAMS FOR CHILDREN The Center is an integral part of the 2 Child Sexual Abuse Response Teams (MDT) serving our area. The team was developed to enhance coordination in the investigation of allegations of child sexual abuse. Through interagency cooperation, the expertise of a multidisciplinary team is brought together to streamline investigations, thereby minimizing the number of interviews required and reducing the trauma of these investigations for the child and family.

SUPPORT GROUPS The Center offers survivors a safe and confi dential space to learn from one another and heal as a community, including a monthly trauma-informed yoga class, a fi ve-session writing workshop for survivors, and art-informed self-care groups.

PREVENTION EDUCATION Our Sexual Violence Prevention Education programs raise awareness about personal safety, sexual harassment and sexual assault; the prevalence of such violence in our society; signs of perpetrator behavior; and symptoms of trauma. Prevention Education programming also provides children with the tools necessary to know what to do if they or someone they know have been affected by this crime.

Operating ExpensesOperating Revenue

Operating Revenue

The CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence $373,741

Impact Fairfi eld County $50,000

Other Grants & Contributions $205,975

Special Events $103,130

TOTAL OPERATING REVENUE $732,846

Operating Expenses

Counseling & Advocacy Services $308,165

Prevention Education Programs $196,701

Management and General $98,351

Development $39,340

TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES $655,671

developmentImpact

Management & General

Prevention & Education Programs

Counseling & Advocacy

a

counseling & advocacy services

management & general

prevention & education programs

48%31%

6%15%

Special Events

Other Grants and Contributions

Impact Fairfield County

The CT Alliance

The CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence

other grants & contributions

28%

7%

51%

Financial Report

Fiscal year ending June 30, 2018

special events14%

The Center’s Impact On Our Community

survivors served

unduplicated individuals educated

hotline calls

women and girls participated in empowerment groups

child sexual abuse allegationshospital calls

533

22,378

12586

7340

Empower. Educate. Eliminate.A Collaboration to Effect Change

In the fall of 2017 The Center was invited by Fairfi eld County Community Foundation to develop a funded program that would fi ght sexual violence across the county, in collaboration with The Women’s Center of Danbury, The Center for Family Justice, the Greenwich YWCA, and the Triangle Community Center. After extensive research and careful consideration from the granting committee at FCCF, the Sexual Violence Prevention Collaborative was funded to effect change in the Fairfi eld County interscholastic sports system. The program, Coaches as Partners, is a year-long initiative to establish sexual violence prevention training and state recertifi cation protocols for all state-certifi ed coaches and athletic directors. The members of the collaborative are confi dent that sports can function as both a platform for and an avenue for change in our communities and specifi cally for the next generation’s leaders. Jessica Feighan, Director of Outreach and Education, and Marie Corriveau, Community Educator, will work alongside the other agencies to develop an appropriate curriculum for the athletic community that will reinforce, from the adult leadership to student-athletes, a culture of respect, gender equity, and responsibility.

Advisory CouncilDr. Christopher BogartExecutive Director, The Southfi eld Center for Development

Sergeant Matthew BrodackiWeston Police Department, Technical Investigation Unit, SW Connecticut

Michael P. DilibertoCIO, Gartner, Inc.

Dr. Catherine Ford, MDOptimus Healthcare, Inc.

Kate Vivanco, EdM, LCSWCentro Bienestar

Dudley WilliamsDirector, Corporate Citizenship and DiversityGE Asset Management

Our StaffMary Forman Flynn Interim Executive Director

Jessica Feighan Director of Education, Outreach and Operations

Juana Yanes Manager of Counseling/SANE Coordinator

Melissa Gallaher-Smith Development Manager

Marie Corriveau Community Educator

Michael Eisenstein Community Educator

Claudia Hasan Crisis Counselor

Kelly Idarraga Bilingual Educator/Support Group Coordinator

Evelyn Morales Bilingual Crisis Counselor, Spanish

Marsha Placide Bilingual Crisis Counselor, Haitian Creole

Nora ReyesBilingual Crisis Counselor, Spanish

Angelica Ardilla

Isabelle Avridor

Noelle Grieco

Jasmine Bailey

Tunisia John

Lisa Crowley

Dana Manour

Natalie Dionisio

Who We Are

Rebecca Marks

Erin Donovan

Kelly Meany

Donna Fulmore

MarlaMenachemson

Nika Gardner

Hotline Volunteers

Clifton E. BenhamAmynah Dharani Sara GleasonPam GraberEugene SchreinerJayme StevensonTuesday TamburriSharon Walker Epps

Gayle WeinsteinPresident

Kim DickinsonVP, Secretary & Fundraising Committee Chair

Kristen AntonpoulosTreasurer

The Board of Directors 2017-2018

Thank You To Our Generous Donors

$20,000+

Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence

City of Norwalk

Fairfi eld County Community Foundation

Greenwich United Way

Impact Fairfi eld County

$10,000+

Community Fund of Darien

Wells Fargo Foundation

The William and Sylvia Silberstein Foundation

$5000+

Amy Marie Crabtree Foundation

City of Stamford Community Development

Kim and Mark Dickinson

Friends of Chris Murphy

Gretchen Carlson’s Gift of Courage Fund

New Canaan Community Foundation

Stamford Public Schools

UBS

Gayle and Seth Weinstein

$2000+

Janice and Raymond Ball

Cynthia Chang and Brian Scanlon

Claire Helsing Foundation

Michelle and Michael Diliberto

First Congregational Church of Darien

Pamela Graber

Kim Hekking

Lone Pine Foundation

Martin J Mahoney

Suzanne Malloy Zaleski

Pitney Bowes Foundation

Precocity Capital LP

Purdue Pharma LP

Savings Bank of Danbury Foundation

St. John’s Community Foundation

Alicia Wyckoff

$500+

Mara Arzi

Kristen Antonopoulos

Quentin Ball and Brett Fagan

Tammy Barry

Clifton and Anna Benham

David Benham

Alexandra Bergstein

Wendy Block

Anne Brennan

Gloria Bruck

Derrick Butler and Tuesday Tamburri

Fran Cohen

Cohen and Wolf PC

Vicki Craver

Wendy Duryea

Margarita Esparrago

Facebook Fundraisers

Steve and Jeanne Fagan

Mary Fay

Lisa M Ferraro

First County Bank

Danielle Flynn

Rose Foley

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Freedman

Ralph and Susan Freydberg

Melissa Gallaher-Smith

Kathryn Emmett and David Golub

Elaine Guiffreda

Hitachi Capital America Corp.

Nancy Howe

Andrew Hubbard

JS Endurance, LLC

Peggy Kalter

Patricia and Aris Kekedjian

Holly Kennedy

Elizabeth Kisielius

Rolling Hillls Wine and Nine

Beth and Mike Krupa

Bruce Lassman

Diana Lenkowsky

Robyn Linker

Nicole Lupo

Aaron Manheimer

Danielle Marchand

Diane and Mark McEnroe

Denis Nayden

Kelly Parker

Pinot’s Palette

Marjorie Pinto-Leite

Pitney Bowes Community Investment

Michelle Ransom

Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau

Kersten Rivas

Michele and Kevin Segalla

Siegfried Group

Anthony Simari and Ivonne Zucco

Elizabeth Smith

Brandy Solinsky

Southfi eld Center For Psychological Services. LLC

Sara and Chris Spaulding

St Francis Episcopal Church

Stamford Downtown Special Services District

Stamford Rotary

Jayme Stevenson

Marianne Tagliavia

Tara Tanzer

The Parish of Christ Church Greenwich

Karen Tom

Kaysie Uniacke

Walmart

Westport Country Playhouse

Whitby School

Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky, LLP

$250+

Georgia Adams

Dorothy Adams

Kate Baldwin

Belinda Basile

Nancy Blackwell

Ann Brady

Kathryn Burt

Patricia Cage

Carlucci Welding and Fabrication

Aspasia Christopoulos

Kristen Clark

Diana Coyne

Yvonne D’Aquino

Cheryl Devault

Amynah Dharani

Jessica Elsas

Julie Fareri

Michael Feighan

Sharon Ferraro

Edina Field

Bob and Mary Flynn

Whitney Franklin

Diane Fried

Sarah Gleason

Richard Granoff

Greens Farms Academy

Greenwich Library

Brigitte Griswold

Holland & Knight LLP

Elizabeth Iino

Phyllis Izenberg

Kim Jodka

Lisa Johnson

Christine Juneau

Liz Kaner

Caroline Kaplan

Christine Kauffman

Caroline Kelly

King School

Linda Koe

Adam and Phyllis Kurzer Family Fund

Rosa Landi

Lexus of Greenwich

Deborah Lichtenstein

Angela Lieberman

Joan Lombardozzi

Harold Low

Anna Mattera

Michael McCaffery

Lisa McDermott

Dale Mello

Janet Mendell

Deborah Messulam

Susan Moch

Charlotte Morello

Plastic Surgery Center of Southern Connecticut

Jennifer Platek

Charlene Pratt

Josephine Redding

Brice Russian

Amy Shapirp

Elisa Strauss

Nicholas Tamborrino

Anthony Tamborrino

Heather K. Terry

Eileen Thomas

Laurie Tillinghast

Trailblazers Academy

Erin Turner

Michelle Walker

Elaine Ward

Jason Weeks

Randie Weseley

Weston Public Schools

Toby Wintrub Foundation

Jeffrey Wollman

Tiffany Otero

Carrie Getz

Diane Quintana

Megan Giorno

Celeste Ragin

Rachel Goldblum

Luz Sanabria

Kacey Gormley

Caoilinn Tierney

Krystal Gourgue

Sharon Walker

Vasi Gournaris

Joie Waxler

Pam Graber

Marie Werner

733 Summer Street, Suite 503Stamford, CT 06901(203) 348-9346www.thecenter-ct.org

“I’ve changed so much in a matter of months. I’ve opened myself up to the process and allowed myself to think through all that I’ve been holding on to and why that could be. I’ve learned so much about myself, my worth, what I will and will not allow, what type of a life I see for myself in my future, and how I will not hurt or wrong my children in any of the ways that I have been wronged.”

– Toni, a counseling client