This semester, Cabrini will host Delco Drop-in sessions once a month to support students who have been subjected to trauma. The organization, which specializes in supporting victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault, will visit November 29 and December 6 from 1-3 p.m. Meetings will be held in Grace Hall’s CaPS office.
This is an opportunity for individuals to meet one-on-one with a trained professional to navigate whatever their needs may be. This includes confidential crisis counseling and victim services information. In addition, all resources provided by the Victim Assistance Center are free. The Delaware County Victim Assistance Center’s associate director is one of Cabrini’s very own alums, Candice Linehan, class of ‘03.
What the Delco sessions provide
Hillary Graham, senior CaPS clinician, noted, “They [Delaware County Victim Assistance Center] can also offer to set up and put somebody on a waiting list if need be for their therapy offsite. Or to talk to a virtual therapist or maybe even to sign up for additional services, right? They can organize a representative to be present with them when they go to the police or go to a court proceeding or anything else. They’ll come on campus here, for instance, if there’s any type of sexual assault that occurs on campus.”
Graham added, “It’s like they’re taking their office in Media and they’re bringing it here for two hours once a month.”
Although the organization specializes in helping those who have been subject to domestic abuse and sexual assault, they also support victims of all kinds. “This includes all types of victimization, though I will say we’re working under the auspices of sexual assault prevention. But let’s just say you’re subject to a carjacking. Let’s just say somebody steals your purse. Let’s just say some other horrible trauma occurs. [The office] will also work with that type of victimization too.”
A federally funded opportunity
The opportunity for the drop-in sessions was made possible through a federally subsidized grant from the United States Office on Violence Against Women, or OVW. According to the Department of Justice, OVW provides leadership for reducing violence against women (domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking) and aims to strengthen services for victims. The grant provided Cabrini $250,000 over five years to “create programming regarding the prevention and services to victims with regards to sexual assault and violence on a college campus.”
Future possibilities
In the future, CaPS hopes to provide educational opportunities surrounding domestic abuse for the Cabrini community. There is a possibility of a collaboration with Laurel House, an organization that focuses on providing support and shelter for domestic abuse victims, in addition to educational opportunities for individuals.
Graham added, “It’s our vision to be able to partner with the same organization and have some type of student training format, either here at CAPS in our Infante House location or Grace Hall, if there were enough people, to talk about other areas like building healthy relationships, or prevention for types of assault and things like that. We hope to bring them [Laurel House] in other ways too. But we started first with allowing victims to feel supported.“
For more information, please contact Hillary Graham at 610-902-8566 or hg10123@cabrini.edu. CaPS also has walk-in hours on weekdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., where students can meet with a counselor. CaPS walk-in sessions are for anyone and everyone, regardless of the issue. Graham concluded, “We are happy to help.”
