Here’s what you need to know.
Our services are essential to our community and we are committed to offering support and assistance while still prioritizing everyone’s health and safety. Resources emerge daily and we will work tirelessly to ensure our clients are connected with those services as well as ours. Here are the ways we continue to be available for confidential specialized sexual assault and abuse support in Tacoma and Pierce County:
- We continue to offer information and support any time day or night through our confidential 24/7 crisis, information and support line at 253-474-7273. This is available to survivors, their supporters, professionals and community members.
- If calling a hotline and seeking support through a phone call is not safe or feasible for you, you may send an email to a confidential advocate directly 24/7 at Advocacy@hopesacpc.org.
- Our Therapy Department is still seeing established clients and scheduling intakes for new client referrals through our confidential virtual counseling platform, which has proven successful for our providers and clients. Our “wait times” to schedule an intake are currently low and we make every effort to reduce or eliminate barriers for survivors seeking therapy services. More information is available by calling our 24/7 hotline at 253-474-7273 to learn about how to qualify for and request therapy services.
- Our case managers continue to connect with clients receiving support from our Sex Trafficking and Exploitation Program (STEP). We are able to help clients learn how to navigate new systems and resources that emerge daily and we are developing options towards helping clients meet their basic needs and safety plan while our drop-in center remains unavailable for access. If you need support or have questions, please contact the program hotline at 253-444-5351 Monday – Saturday during regular program hours or email to CaseManager@hopesacpc.org.
- We will do our best to continue providing updates and new information on our agency website and social media accounts.
We have been working hard to learn new skills and adopt new practices so that our services can evolve with the changing times and demands. Pending further developments from our elected and public health officials, we are continuing to close our doors to the public in greater efforts to preserve the medical safety and health of our staff and clients. We are hopeful that we will see a relaxing of the work from home order, and in the next month to 6 weeks we will find a way to resume some of our in-person services. While we have no idea how this will work at this time, we are optimistic that our agency and staff will be ready to take those next steps, whatever they are, to provide our clients and professional partners that relationship we have historically been privileged to share.
We want our community to know we are here. This is an even more difficult time for the survivors and families we serve as their physical access to services, safety, support and transformational relationships are restricted. For some of our clients, they face greater danger by practicing physical distancing and “stay-at-home” compliance. I want to now share with you all and with our clients that we are not alone in this – you are not alone.
We are here to support you and our greater Tacoma – Pierce County community! Please take great care with yourselves and others.
Sincerely,
Carlyn Sampson Executive Director
Rebuilding Hope! Sexual Assault Center for Pierce County