The Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Services agency has a new, brighter office.
By Samantha C. DePoy
Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Janine Winn was worried that when people saw the new office they would think she and her staff were stepping above themselves.

But those who stop by the new Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Services office at 138 Pleasant St. have had a different reaction.

“They come in and say, ‘You deserve this,'” Winn says.

The recent move relocated SAVES from their cramped second floor Main Street office to more sunlit, cozy digs on the first floor.

It’s a symbolic move, Winn explained, because now the issue of sexual assault is right on the street, instead of hidden in some back, out-of-the-way office.

Staff were so eager about the move they shrugged off getting cost-of-living increases this year.

The new space allows staff to work more efficiently, she said, and the agency to better use interns and volunteers. It includes private offices for all of the staff, a conference room where the Board of Directors can meet and an intimate interview room, which gives local law enforcement officers and SAVES staff the private space to talk with clients they never had before.

While rental costs for the new office are higher, Franklin County residents who support SAVES by paying their county tax are getting a better value, Winn assured.

“You’re going to get a bigger bang for your dollar because you can be more efficient,” Board of Directors Chair Richard Caton III said.

Caton admitted that the board has been working on finding the agency a suitable space for years. Now that the search is done, they can work on finding more funding and increasing services.

Marking 20 years

“Our long-term goal is to eradicate sexual violence. Maybe in 20 years we’ll be there,” Winn said optimistically.

And now that the walls are painted with warm, springy colors, and the knickknacks and family photos have found their proper places, the agency is throwing a midwinter garden party.

The event celebrates the new office, the dedicated volunteers and the 20th full year the agency has had its hot line open to provide support for victims of sexual assault or abuse.

“We have a lot of things to celebrate,” Winn said.

There will be live music provided by the Sytsmas and Friends, hors d’oeuvres donated by area eateries and a silent auction that features paintings, sculptures, photographs and other work by some of the area’s most revered artists and artisans.

Len Hoover, a sign designer at Farmington’s SignWorks, remembers the worthwhile work his mother and her friend did running a rape crisis center in Connecticut where he grew up.

For that reason, he decided to take a huge piece of scrap particleboard and turn it into the closest thing a Harley enthusiast could dream of, besides a real bike.

The giant particleboard painted chopper, about 8 feet long, stands up or fits on the wall. Hoover says he would like the piece to fetch around $500 in the silent auction, but no matter how much it earns, it’s all going towards a good cause.

“They are not going to get this anywhere else unless they buy a motorcycle,” he said.

Funds from the auction will offset the agency’s decrease in financial support from state and federal governments and the local United Way, Winn said.

The midwinter garden party will be 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 26, at the new office at 138 Pleasant St.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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