Survivors Healing Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Company type | Non-profit organization |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987, Santa Cruz |
| Headquarters | 104 Walnut Ave, Suite 201 Santa Cruz California 95060 |
Number of employees | 3+ Staff, 12+ volunteers |
| Website | www.survivorshealingcenter.org/ |
The Survivors Healing Center is a not-for-profit located in Santa Cruz County, California. Founded in 1987, its mission is to provide services for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and educate the public and service agencies about the issue.[1] According to the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center, the Survivors Healing Center is one of the few centers in the world that focuses primarily on childhood sexual abuse.[2]
"Survivors Healing Center (SHC), a California 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has been serving Santa Cruz County since 1987. SHC provides education, information, referrals, quality services, and support to survivors of childhood sexual abuse and their allies. Our primary goals are to empower those victimized by sexual abuse through a healing process and to prevent sexual abuse of children and youth."[3]
History
The idea for the Survivors Healing Center came about through poet and author Ellen Bass. She taught writing workshops for women, and was surprised by the number of women who wrote about childhood sexual abuse. Along with a group of other authors, she compiled an anthology of stories and writings of women who had been sexually abused as children called I Never Told Anyone. Along with therapist Amy Pine, she founded the Survivors Healing Center in 1987.[3]
Ms. Bass began offering workshops in Santa Cruz to help women heal from the effects of childhood sexual abuse, and published another book The Courage to Heal (heavily criticized for contributing to the epidemic of false memory syndrome in the 1980s and 90s).
