No. Shore Rape Crisis Center relocates to Lynn

LYNN – Hoping to provide counseling and therapeutic services to victims of sexual assault, the North Shore Rape Crisis Center opened the doors Tuesday to its new headquarters at 156 Broad St.The center relocated from Beverly based on recommendations from the state Department of Public Health because the need for such services is more acute in Lynn, according to Monica Cowart, the center director.”There’s a true need here in Lynn,” she said. “We offer individual counseling, support groups, referrals, and we staff a 24-hour hotline.”Free and confidential services are available for men, women and teenagers. Educational workshops focus on key issues such as consent, date rape drugs, Internet safety, sexual harassment, rape on college campuses, sexual violence prevention, rape and sexual assault awareness, and making the connection between alcohol and rape.Elisabeth Wrenn, the center’s assistant director, explained that rape prevention strategies include trying to change social norms and show what characteristics are typically found in an unhealthy relationship. “A lot of what we do is education,” she said. “We ask questions. What is rape? What is the legal definition of rape?”Due to myths and misconceptions surrounding sexual assault, survivors of this violence often find themselves without support or understanding, said Cowart, who holds a doctorate in philosophy of psychology and a master’s degree in clinical psychology. Simply because a woman is inebriated or wearing a mini-skirt doesn’t legitimize rape, she said.Health & Education Services, Inc., a non-profit behavioral health network affiliated with Northeast Health System, oversees the Lynn center. The parent agency also offers programs that address mental health, substance abuse, victimization, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, emergency care and residential placement.According to Cowart, the Lynn center will offer traditional therapy and counseling services as well as more holistic coping strategies for survivors of sexual assault. The latter groups, confidential and free, teach distress tolerance, meditation and mindfulness.Cowart said the Lynn center has seven employees and provides services to 27 communities but volunteers are needed, particularly to staff the hotline.The origins of the North Shore Rape Crisis Center date to 1981, when the North Shore Community Mental Health Center established a Unit Against Rape and Sexual Assault (URSA) in response to federal grant mandate. URSA was located at Project Rap and expanded in 1985 into a rape crisis center. Three years later, the name was changed to the North Shore Rape Crisis Center.The Lynn center hotline number is 800-922-8772 in English or 800-223-5001 in Spanish.