AUGUSTA (AP) – State budget cuts mean the resources of a central Maine rape crisis center have been stretched thin in recent months, and its administrators are hoping new volunteers will step forward to help out.
“We’re in desperate need of volunteers,” said Donna Stickler, executive director of the Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Center, which provides hospital advocates trained to support a victim during a medical exam, support groups and a crisis hot line. “We really can’t do this work effectively without their help, because our resources are so limited.”
Part of the center’s annual state funding for “violence intervention and prevention” was cut by half this year.
The center also was supposed to get $8,500 to train volunteers to answer the center’s telephone hot line.
“That funding allows for us to have more experienced trained people to provide service specifically to callers who have mental-health related issues or concerns,” she said.
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