By Terra Avilla
Child Victim care in Lassen County just received a miracle.
And that miracle came in the form of a board of volunteers and three wonderful nurses at Lassen Resiliency. Most of you never think about what happens to the survivor of a sexual assault and I pray that you never will.
However, for families affected by child sexual abuse, this new center is a life changer. So, what is Lassen Resiliency?
They are trained pediatric sexual assault nurse examiners who provide forensic exams right here in Lassen County. Did you know that for years Victims of Child Sex Abuse, had to be driven hours out of county? Can you imagine what that was like for the survivor? For their parents?
It was necessary, obviously, for the prosecution in the case and to check on the well-being of the child, but things like snow, wildfires, police resources, coordination with out of county agencies etc, were more often than not difficult to navigate around.
Well, the hearts at Lassen Resiliency (Christi Myers, Celeste Wiser, and Heidi Gray, to name a few) teamed up to help combat this problem.
Lassen Resiliency is not only local, but also “provides care holistically.”
From an investigative standpoint having a local facility and team here really will be the best thing for trauma informed care and for collecting the best possible evidence.
Victims are often told not to bathe, brush their teeth, etc. Can you imagine being told this and then being told that the soonest your exam could be is the following morning? Having a center locally will truly be a saving grace to our county’s most vulnerable victims.
And honestly, they could not have a better staff. The hearts of those women (who by the way are all VOLUNTEERS) is phenomenal.
Remember when I said that nurses are specifically trained? These nurses underwent hours and hours (weeks and weeks) of training, all so that they could VOLUNTEER and give back to the community.
This past weekend, one of their biggest supporters, Lassen Family Services, helped host a color run with funds benefiting this newly formed non-profit. (Also, major kudos to LFS for all the help you guys did with LR to get it up and going!)
The fact that our pediatric victims will now have a local process that provides evidence collection and that helps start the healing process while connecting them with needed services is truly a much-needed win for our county.
I am so excited and in awe at what the people in our community can do, and I am so thankful that there were very dedicated people that chose to do this. Even though it is brand spanking new, it is already one of the reasons I love where we live.
