Dear Community,

​

            We are writing this open letter to our community with deep concern. The Sexual Trauma and Abuse CARE Center is in dire need of community help and support. We recently received notice from one of our major funding partners that new State of Kansas requirements included in HB 2513 (the appropriations bill), Section 54(u), will delay notifications for state funded grant awards. Although we remain hopeful these grant funds will eventually be released and our still continuing our services, the uncertainty surrounding when those dollars will become available creates a significant funding gap for our organization. Like many nonprofit organizations, the S.T.A. CARE Center has relied heavily on grant funding to provide essential services and as a crisis center, we are turning towards our community for help because the impact of halted, delayed or reduced services by our agency could be a devastating reality for many survivors of sexual assault and abuse in Douglas, Franmklin and Jefferson Counties. For more than 54 years, the S.T.A. CARE Center has stood beside survivors of sexual assault, providing hope, advocacy, and compassionate care when it is needed most. Since 1972, we have answered the call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to ensure that survivors are never alone during one of the most difficult moments of their lives. Our advocates meet survivors during Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exams, accompany them through the criminal justice process, provide courtroom advocacy, crisis intervention, emotional support, referrals, and remain by their side every step of the way. After more than five decades of unwavering service, we cannot allow financial uncertainty to become another barrier for survivors seeking safety, healing, and justice.  

 

If you are able, please show your support in our mission and consider making a financial contribution to the S.T.A. CARE Center. Every gift, large or small, helps ensure that our advocates remain available whenever a survivor needs help. If making a donation is not possible, you can still make an enormous difference. Sharing our message with your friends, families, networks and communities can have a lasting impact on our work.  

 

In the last year alone, our community’s generosity has allowed us to provide over 1100 hours of direct service to over 300 clients. For over half a century, the people of Douglas, Franklin, and Jefferson Counties have trusted the S.T.A. CARE Center to be there when survivors needed someone most.

Today, we are asking you to stand with us so we can continue standing with them!