Rape Survivor Program Needs Volunteers

The RAPE Survivor Advocacy Program (RSAP), a program of Mental Health Association in Orange County, Inc., is conducting an upcoming training for volunteers. The Rape Survivor Advocacy Program is available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, where advocates accompany sexual assault survivors to hospital emergency rooms, police departments and courtrooms. The trained volunteer advocates attend to the needs of the survivor and/or co-survivors while providing moral support, intervention and exercising confidentiality. In the past 5 years, the Rape Crisis Program, directed by Vanessa Green, has serviced over 12,000 people in the Orange County area providing advocacy for rape victims, education to the community and critical linkage to information and referrals.

Along with the Rape Survivor Advocacy Program, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program (S.A.N.E) works hand in hand with the survivors. The S.A.N.E. team is made up of compassionate nurses who have gone through extensive training and instruction in how to treat and care for sexual assault survivors. The exam is performed in a private and comfortable room designated for the victims, where forensic evidence is collected and preserved using the state of the art equipment. S.A.N.E professionals are also available to offer expert witness testimony at trial when necessary.

The S.A.N.E Program is a collaborative project among Mental Health Association in Orange County, Inc., Orange Regional Medical Center - Horton Campus and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The training will take place at Hudson House, 245 Broadway, Newburgh, NY, 12550 on both September 11th and 15th from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. For further information please contact Tharicia McZorn at (845) 565-8681.