Giving Back

I'm taking on something completely new in life and I'm very excited.

Today I had an interview with the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center. I'm going through the training to become a volunteer. I'll work with their hot line, answering calls and offering assistance, as well as meeting victims at the hospital for support, if needed.

I just happened to run across the opportunity in a mass email sent to work. It really stuck out to me. I always look for different ways to get involved in the community when I move to a new city. I tried Junior League in Evansville. That didn't pan out how I'd hope. I knew there had to be something in Lexington to do, but hadn't found anything until I heard about BRCC.

I'm not sure it's something many people would be open to, but thanks to some stories I covered while in Evansville, I feel a strong connection and a strong need to get involved with this type of cause.

I covered several Take Back Night marches at FOX 7. Put on by Albion Fellows Bacon Center, they were sometimes stories people didn't get behind completely, but I always knew it was something that needed attention and always tried to cover it. While at one in 2007, I met the mother of USI student. Her daughter was speaking out for the first time about her experience with Sexual Assault. The mom told me how many struggles they went through trying to get some sort of justice for her daughters attacker. Even though she got a rape kit done immediately, There were plea deals, court dates move, every sort of headache you could imagine, on top of trying to deal with the situation the girl had been through. I got her phone number and she invited me to cover the sentencing of the attacker. I was in the courtroom with the family and the other advocates. After, the girl had the strength to talk on camera, not only about what she'd been through, but the judgement she had to deal with from society and the understanding she got of why people never report assualts. It's a story I will never forget and has touched me enough that I have this strong urge to offer support to other women who go through the same thing.

I also did several stories with Holly Dunn-Pendleton's efforts to open Holly's House in Evansville. It's a safe haven for victims of domestic and sexual crimes. I remember the first story I did with it. There was one thing that stuck out to me. Holly pointed out that someone who went to the police station to report a rape, had to sit and wait in the lobby of the police station. They had to sit in chairs along side someone who was there to pay a parking ticket or a water bill. They could run into a neighbor who, not knowing, would ask what was going on.

These are situations, God willing, most people don't have to go through. That's why I think I need to volunteer. I think I have a small amount of empathy and and I can't just sit there and let others take care of it.

I have to go through four days of training in September. I'm still trying to switch three Saturday shifts to make it happen, but I'm very excited, not only to learn, but to give back.