Hillsborough’s only rape crisis center to open 2nd clinic. Here’s why.
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay will expand access to sexual assault services in rapidly growing southern Hillsborough County.
The nonprofit on Monday plans to open the county’s second certified rape crisis center, making it easier for victims in Ruskin, Wimauma and Sun City Center to get a rape exam.
Currently, the county only has one certified rape crisis facility. It’s off W Bearss Avenue in Tampa at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay’s headquarters. During the last fiscal year, the existing facility administered 344 rape exams, but only about 50 of those were for south county victims, said Clara Reynolds, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer.
In 2020, Hillsborough County recorded 363 rapes, according to data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“Being in the northernmost point of the county,” Reynolds said, “is probably the worst location possible for a service that needs to be countywide.”
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay expects that at least half of the new facility’s staff will speak both English and Spanish, said spokesperson Ken Gibson.
Discussions about the facility began around December 2020. It cost $250,000 to open it, according to Gibson.
The facility, at the county-owned SouthShore Community Resource Center, 201 14th Ave. SE in Ruskin, will be staffed with advocates to help victims process their trauma and forensic nurses who can conduct rape exams to collect DNA evidence from those ages 13 and older. This may take up to six hours, Reynolds said.
For anyone younger than 18, the center must notify authorities. Those 12 and under can seek help at Mary Lee’s House, the county’s child advocacy and protection center in Tampa.
Reynolds credited Sheriff Chad Chronister, County Commissioner Harry Cohen and Clerk of Court and Comptroller Cindy Stuart for pushing the project forward.
“This is as critical as providing any other utility in south county,” Reynolds said. “(For) individuals who have been sexually assaulted, (it’s) a crime that so many people face alone because they don’t know where to go. It is shrouded in secrecy, in guilt, in stereotypes.”
Elizabeth Gutierrez, founder of the nonprofit Enterprising Latinas, which develops opportunities for Hispanic women in Wimauma, said the facility will have a positive impact. She emphasized the importance of hiring multilingual and multicultural staff to provide quality services to both English and non-English speakers.
“This is delicate work,” she said in an email, “that requires highly trained and skilled individuals who can reach and connect with people in the midst of a major life crisis.”
How to get help
Where: Rape crisis facility at the SouthShore Community Resource Center, 201 14th Ave. SE in Ruskin.
When: The facility will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Starting June 1, it will remain open 24/7.
How to contact: Call 211, 911 or (888) 956-7273 to access the free services. Police can drive victims to get a rape exam if they want one.
Staff writer Juan Carlos Chavez contributed to this report.
