Rape Crisis Center faces drop in donations

One day of operations for nonprofit organization costs about $2,470

Photos by Christina Chiaravalloti/ViewAbove, Alyson Shainker fields a phone call from a victim at the Rape Crisis Center, 6375 W. Charleston Blvd. Right, a wall of art inside the Rape Crisis Center features jeans from Denim Day, an international support day for rape victims, and drawings by rape survivors. Photos by Christina Chiaravalloti/ViewAbove, Alyson Shainker fields a phone call from a victim at the Rape Crisis Center, 6375 W. Charleston Blvd. Right, a wall of art inside the Rape Crisis Center features jeans from Denim Day, an international support day for rape victims, and drawings by rape survivors. Advertisement

On any given day, Rape Crisis Center employees and volunteers take 150 calls, visit six victims in the hospital, teach a classroom of students how to say "no," work as a victim's advocate in court and lead a rape victim support group. A day of operation at the Rape Crisis Center tallies $2,470 worth of costs, and with a drop in grant monies and donations, it's made it difficult to help Las Vegas' rising number of rape victims.

The center, at 6375 W. Charleston Blvd., Building B, doesn't sleep. Volunteers are on call 24 hours to help any victim who needs it. Calls are transferred to one of the center's 30 volunteers' cell phones. The volunteer finds out what the victims' needs are and does his or her best to meet them.

The Rape Crisis Center will find victims shelter, provide them clothes and hygiene kits, and refer them and their families to therapists, if needed. The center employees will act as a victim's liaison with the court system and detectives. The center also hosts rape survivors support groups where people can learn to cope with an assault.

"Whatever we can do to help, we will do," Rape Crisis Center executive director Louise Torres said.

Every volunteer and employee, including Torres, works shifts on the 24-hour hot line to keep up with the average of 5,000 calls for help a month -- about 1,000 more a month than just a year ago, Torres said.

"In this economy, it causes more stress and more violence in people," she said.

The nonprofit's grant funds have dropped by $121,000 in the past year, and donations are down about 30 percent, Torres said, making it impossible to meet its $1 million-a-year operating costs. The center recently cut three of its 10 employees.

While the center searches for more grant money, it also sends employees into Clark County classrooms to work to stop sexual assault before it starts.

Elena Espinoza, director of Rape Crisis Center's education and outreach, visits classrooms from kindergarten through high school to walk students through a five-day lesson plan that is meant to empower them.

She talks to elementary students about bullying and teaches them how to speak up if they feel uncomfortable in a situation. She talks more straightforward to high school students about how to take social responsibility to stay safe.

After each lesson, Espinoza invites students to stay after class to share their reaction or just to talk. Last school year, 32 students came forward to say they were sexually assaulted.

Torres said there is no profile for a victim. The shelter has had rape victims in every ZIP code in the valley, as young as 6 months old and as old as 96 years.

"It doesn't matter how much they make or where they live," she added.

Amanda Diaz credits the center's staff for helping her cope in the wake of a decade of abuse. At 17 years old, Diaz told her mother that her stepfather had sexually assaulted her for the past 10 years.

Diaz, now 22, said Rape Crisis Center staff talked her through the doctor's exam and stood beside her twice in court to see her stepfather sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison.

"Without them, I don't think things would've gone as smoothly," she said. "They've had training and they know what you're going through. They really help a lot of people."

In September, the Rape Crisis Center raised about $200,000 at its fifth annual Nina's Night Out benefit. Money from the last five Nina's Night Out events has been earmarked for a new building for the center, which has called a small office on the College of Southern Nevada's West Charleston campus home for the past three years. A new building will give the center space to have onsite exams, more support groups and, eventually, counseling. Torres' goal is to move into a new building by late 2010.

"We want to build a trust with the community to let them know, we are here to help," she said.

Contact Southeast and Southwest View reporter Danielle Nadler at dnadler@viewnews.com or 224-5524.