New signs of hope

F. ANDREW TAYLOR/VIEWTherapist Alyson Shainker will use her skills in American Sign Language to counsel many Signs of Hope Counseling Services clients. "People that are deaf are sexually assaulted at a much higher rate than the hearing community," said Shainker, who has worked with the Rape Crisis Center since 2002. F. ANDREW TAYLOR/VIEWPat Thacker, president of the board of directors for the Rape Crisis Center, and Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, cut the ribbon at the Signs of Hope Counseling Services office at 6204 McLeod Drive. Advertisement

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Signs of Hope Counseling Services office, 6402 McLeod Drive, on July 1, District 18 Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, summed things up succinctly.

"Sometimes Nevada gets a bad rap about things we don't do," he said. "This is something we're doing right, and this is going to help a lot of people."

Signs of Hope is a counseling center opened by the Southern Nevada Rape Crisis Center near Sunset Park, far from the organization's home offices at 6375 W. Charleston Blvd. It will offer counseling services to victims of sexual assault and their families. The service will be provided regardless of a client's ability to pay for counseling.

If it were simply a new satellite center for the Rape Crisis Center, it would be of note, but what truly sets Signs of Hope apart from other organizations is therapist Alyson Shainker's fluency in American Sign Language.

"People that are deaf are sexually assaulted at a much higher rate than the hearing community," said Shainker, who has worked with the Rape Crisis Center since 2002.

While working on her undergraduate degree at UNLV, Shainker met a volunteer from the center. She saw the work the organization was doing and became a volunteer. Within a few months, she became a paid advocate for the center. She moved up through several job titles in the organization, but when she recently received her master's degree in counseling form UNLV, she wanted to get back to the hands-on work of the job.

"Lu (Louise Torres), our executive director, approached me and asked me 'How can we keep you?' and I told her if we could create a counseling center for me, I'd stay," Shainker said. "That was over a year ago, but we finally got it all together."

"This is the culmination of a lot of work and a lot of hope," said Pat Thacker, president of the board of directors for the Rape Crisis Center.

Shainker is delighted that she doesn't have to go elsewhere to provide counseling for victims of sexual assault, a job she describes as "her passion." She stepped down from her position as the center's director of client services so she could be more hands-on.

"It's always been my dream to work with the deaf community, as well, and I thought, why not combine them?"

Shainker feels it's particularly important to be able to speak to her clients in their language. She's been an American Sign Language speaker as long as she can remember, growing up with a deaf family member and having a deaf best friend. She only knows of one other local therapist who can communicate in ASL, and she has what Shainker describes as "a crazy waiting list."

Shainker teaches service providers about giving culturally competent service to the deaf, as well as providing education to the deaf community. She wants the community as a whole and the deaf community to know how to get the help they need.

"It's one thing to know the language, but it's another thing to be culturally competent," Shainker said. "It's a culture all on its own."

The Rape Crisis Center can be reached through its hot line at 366-1640.

The center also is looking to raise money, in part to fund Signs of Hope. In honor of the organization's 35th anniversary, it is selling 35 candles for $1,000 each. Smaller donations also are always welcome. For more information, visit www.therapecrisiscenter.org.

Contact Sunrise and Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.