Reid’s Center of Hope plans two events during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April 3, 2025 -- Survivors of violent crime need providers who can support them through any physical injuries suffered as well as the psychological and emotional trauma inflicted. It's a blend of care that requires specialized training to ensure patients get the proper help.

Reid Health's Center of Hope is working to meet that need as well as raise awareness in the community.

April is both Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month, two topics important to the work done by Reid's Center of Hope.

To mark the occasion, the team is holding two events.

"What Were You Wearing" aims to help dispel the myth someone was sexually assaulted because of the clothes they wore. The display will highlight clothing along the lines of what actual survivors had on when they were attacked.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 9 in Classrooms A and B on Reid's main campus in Richmond. To get to the classrooms, go in the main entrance and head toward the Café at Twelve Hundred. Turn left to go down the hallway just before the café. The classrooms will be on your right.

"What Were You Wearing" will then be on display from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 15 at Reid Health - Connersville in the Atrium.

That same week -- from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 17 -- the Center of Hope team will be available across from the Reid Espresso Bar on the main campus in Richmond with information on sexual assault and child abuse prevention. Anyone who'd like to learn more about either topic or Center of Hope is welcome to stop by.

"We want to support your healing both physically and emotionally, as well as empower you to move forward with your life. We're here for you without judgement. Please allow us the privilege of helping you during a very difficult and painful time." -- Shana Evans, Reid's SANE Program Coordinator

In 2015, Reid began sending some of its nurses for training as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) who can provide comprehensive care to survivors, including the collection of items and specimens that could be used as evidence.

In the time since, the program has expanded to provide services to those who have experienced:

• Child abuse
• Domestic violence
• Elder abuse
• Human trafficking
• Sexual assault
• Strangulation

The Center of Hope team is dedicated to providing survivors with choices in their care, meeting them where they are and seeing them as a unique person as well as finding out what their worries/priorities of needs are. With the Center of Hope, the patient is in control.

"We want to support your healing both physically and emotionally, as well as empower you to move forward with your life," said Shana Evans, Reid's SANE Program Coordinator. "We're here for you without judgement. Please allow us the privilege of helping you during a very difficult and painful time."

If you've experienced a violent crime or would like to speak with someone on our Center of Hope team, you can call (765) 983-2092.