NONPROFIT by KELSEY CIPOLLA
Supporting Survivors. For almost 50 years, the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA) emergency crisis line has offered support to sexual assault and abuse survivors and the people around them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s part of an extraordinary legacy for the organization, which got its start in 1969 as an effort between criminal justice, health, mental health, and other professions that came together to address the needs of those that had been sexually assaulted. “Today, MOCSA continues to be the sole rape crisis center serving the greater Kanas City metro area, and we have a unique service model that focuses not only on advocacy and response and support, but also education and prevention, as well,” explains President and CEO Julie Donelon. “We look at it from a very holistic point of view to impact the issue and change the culture in our city.”
SERVING THE COMMUNITY MOCSA serves Kansas City through three major programs: advocacy, counseling, and education and prevention. In addition to the emergency crisis line, which is always answered by a live person, MOCSA also provides hospital advocacy, sending a staff member or volunteer to offer support or intervention while survivors undergo sexual assault
exams at area hospitals. The organization’s advocacy efforts continue, whether a survivor goes through the criminal justice process, wants help navigating a school’s Title IX procedures, or needs assistance breaking a lease to get out of an unsafe situation. “Survivors often feel like they’re to blame, like they’ve done something wrong,” Donelon says. “They’ve seen how other survivors are treated when they come forward, through the news stories or the media or from reactions from friends and family that they’ve heard, and so a lot of times, they’re just very uncertain of what to do and who to tell, because they’re very vulnerable. They understand that likely their character will be attacked, but not that of the perpetrator’s. We want to make sure that we do everything to allow the victims to come forward and get the support that they need while they work their way through that whole process.” MOCSA offers counseling programs for those 4 years and up who have been impacted by child sexual abuse, as well as adult survivors of child sexual abuse, and adult and adolescent survivors of sexual violence. Additionally, the nonprofit works in more than 30 area school districts providing education and awareness programming for preschoolers through college students, as well as to community and professional groups. MOCSA also delivers Safe Bar training in
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