MONTGOMERY— Gov. Bob Riley has awarded six grants to help victims of sexual assault and child abuse in eight east Alabama counties.
Three grants totaling $142,316, including $40,000 in economic stimulus funds, will enable the Daybreak Crisis Recovery Center in Anniston to continue to help sexual assault victims in Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah, Randolph and Talladega counties. One of many services offered by the center is roaming counseling, which ensures that victims in each of the seven counties have access to counselors. Also receiving grant support is a program that provides specially-trained nurses to examine victims.
The Crisis Center of Russell County in Phenix City will use $30,000 in grants, including economic stimulus funds, to increase awareness of their services and assist sexual assault victims to obtain employment and become self sufficient. A part-time jobs specialist, hired with the stimulus funding, will help victims obtain job training and teach them to write résumés, and improve job interview techniques in order to successfully apply for employment. Other services include a 24-hour crisis line, counseling and various support services.
A $50,285 grant to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Cherokee County will enable the continuation of services to victims of child abuse in Cherokee County. The organization provides medical examinations, counseling and court preparation.
“I am pleased that we can provide this funding to help save jobs that assist people in need,” said Riley. “I commend the staff of these organizations for the vital services they provide.”
Riley urged residents to remember that grants provide only part of the funding required by the organizations: “Local, private donations are necessary in order to continue offering free services to victims.”
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from funds made available to the state by the U.S. Department of Justice. Some funding was made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Riley notified Elaine Barbee, board president of Daybreak, Valerie McLain, executive director of the Crisis Center, and Lynn Rochester, board president of the Children’s Advocacy Center, that the grants had been approved.
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Contact: Josh Carples; Larry Childers
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