'You can heal:' Advocates working to support victims, prevent sexual violence, child abuse
For the first time since the pandemic, Lebanon City Mayor Sherry Capello held a “Walk With The Mayor” event, partnering with SARCC to educate members of the community on services around the city that work to support victims of sexual violence and child abuse and prevent more from happening.
The walk was held on Monday and began in front of the SARCC building located at 615 Cumberland St.
SARCC offers services like counseling, advocacy support groups and medical and legal support to sexual abuse survivors at no-cost for people of all age and genders. They also offer a bilingual staff as well as licensed therapists.
Services are all confidential and available 24/7 through their hotline, which can be reached at (717) 272-5308.
“One of the things that we want our community to know is that while sexual assault is a really common experience, and very widespread," said Ali Perrotto, president and CEO of SARCC, "it’s also something you can heal from.”
April is sexual assault awareness and child abuse prevention month, and SARCC has been looking specifically at how to prevent and mitigate risk of these crimes throughout the county.
“No one that works with SARCC wants to keep having to do this work," Perrotto said, "we’re all working to end it and we know that violence is preventable if we have the right tools and learn the right skills.”
Part of prevention is having appropriate mental health support
According to Perrotto, mental health and mental health services are one of the greatest risk factors for many forms of violence in Lebanon County.
She said that data collected in the Pennsylvania Youth Risk Survey, which is given in every school district across the commonwealth, along with community health needs assessments collected from local hospital networks, shows that Lebanon is affected by mental health at higher rates compared to surrounding counties.
Perotto also said that income, language barriers, housing stability, and employment are all contributing factors to the risk of sexual violence and child abuse.
"As statistics show, one in five women and one in 67 will be raped at some point in their lives. And whereas child sexual prevention must be a priority to confront the reality that one in six boys and one in four girls will experience sexual assault before age 18," Capello said during a proclamation she gave at the end of the walk," And whereas one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted during their time in college. And whereas every community member can work to prevent sexual violence before it happens, by promoting safety, respect and equality."
"Our words shape the world around us."
Here are the rest of the stops on the roughly one mile walk with the mayor that provide support for survivors and offer services that prevent the risk of violence:
PA Counseling services
618 Cumberland St., (717) 274-2741.
Offers outpatient mental health and behavioral health services through counseling.
PA Migrant Education Program
604 Cumberland St., (717) 675-7922.
Offers programming and services specifically for young people of migrant families to build language skills and educational success. According to Perrotto, migrants and those with language barriers have very specific risk factors for sexual victimization both in the workplace and the community.
Chestnut St. Community Center
611 Chestnut St., (717) 507-6108.
Offers the fresh start housing program through Lebanon County Christian Ministries, a 30-day family housing option for those facing housing stability. The community center also does outreach and hold educational programs to reduce risk of violence throughout the community.
Mentor A Mother
827 Chestnut St., (717) 685-9442.
Provides free support and resources for young pregnant and parenting women.
Agape Family Shelter
139 S 9th St., (717) 272-6573.
Shelter for women and women with children for up to one year of time for no cost.
WEPA Empowerment Center
9 S 9th St., (717) 954-7928.
Provides workplace training and development to help move community members to living wage levels.
T.W. Ponessa & Associates Counseling Services
15 S 9th St., (717) 273-5992.
Offers mental health counseling services.
Woman’s Shelter on Willow
740 Willow St., (717) 675-3825.
Provides resources and shelter for women facing housing instability.
Daniel Larlham Jr. is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at DLarlham@LDNews.com or on Twitter @djlarlham
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Sexual assault and child abuse: resources for help in Lebanon
