Q&A with Shamecca Bryant of The Orange County Rape Crisis Center

The Orange County Rape Crisis Center is aiming to “Paint the Town Teal” during Sexual Assault Awareness Month this April.

Staff writer Katie Reilly spoke with Executive Director Shamecca Bryant about the center’s ongoing campaign against sexual violence during this and every month.

DTH: What services and programs does the center provide?

SB: The center provides 24-hour crisis services for individuals who have been sexually assaulted as well as services for loved ones — so a friend or family member or acquaintance of someone who’s been assaulted. We also have a community education program. We’ve been in the schools for over 30 years … We also provide support group services for individuals who are focused on healing efforts. We offer about 10 to 12 groups a year.

DTH: How many people do you typically see per month?

SB: It depends because we can also see someone more than just once a month. Usually, with survivors, they’re getting some form of support over time. Last year, we saw 458 different people. This year, we’re actually on track to see 550 different people. It can range per month — 50 people, 80 people, it depends. We see a big spike around January after the holidays when people are returning home and we also see a big spike in April and May.

DTH: How is the center recognizing Sexual Assault Awareness Month?

SB: We’re actually putting on a big outreach and fundraising campaign. Every year we host an annual Shout Out against sexual violence and basically that’s an event for survivors as well as their loved ones to come out in a safe place and use artistic expression to discuss their healing, to discuss their trauma … This year, we’re putting on our first-ever Parents Summit, which is basically going to be an event where parents in the community can come together and learn about child sexual abuse prevention.

DTH: What do you hope will come from these events?

SB: Our biggest hope is that people will learn about the services that we provide and that they will call our hotline and ask for help if they need it. Our main role in the community is to be a place of healing and listening for survivors of sexual violence. If we can get more individuals to contact us, then we feel like we’ve been successful.

DTH: How can people volunteer at the center?

SB: We love volunteers. There are a variety of ways that people can do that, the first of which is to be a companion. A companion is a person who sits on the crisis line for us, goes to the hospital, goes to court, does all of the client services advocacy that we need … The other ways that people can volunteer are by being a community educator. Community educators go into the schools, both Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro public schools, to put on Safe Touch and rape prevention programming … Folks can always join our board or be an office volunteer.

DTH: Are there any plans for programs or services to expand?

SB: We are currently looking at how to do more work for communities with intellectual disabilities as well as developmental disabilities. A couple of years ago, we had a grant that allowed us to start the initial phase of that work, so we worked with the UNC Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program to get some basic guidelines for UNC hospitals on how to work with a survivor who has a disability, so we’d like to expand that … At the moment, our Latino services program has drastically increased in terms of the number of people who are utilizing that service, so we are definitely hoping to be able to sustain that.

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