Organization History
In 1974, a task force assembled by the Chapel Hill chapter of the National Organization for Women opened the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Rape Crisis Center to respond to concerns about sexual violence in the community. The center had no funding or office space—volunteers met at the home of the NOW chapter president—but they did have a three-fold mission: to comfort survivors, change public opinion and change the law.
The first few years were not easy; the center was staffed solely by volunteers and funding was difficult to obtain. The first coordinator of the center was a volunteer. In 1978, the center was incorporated as the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Rape Crisis Center. The first office was a location on Columbia Street shared with the Coalition for Battered Women and the Women’s Health Counseling Service. The center’s office was later moved to West Rosemary Street.
In 1979, after receiving funding from the town of Chapel Hill and Orange County, the center hired its first full-time director. Over the next three years, a number of changes occurred: volunteers were trained to give community presentations, the center co-sponsored the first Take Back the Night march in Chapel Hill, the first male volunteer was trained and clients began to be called survivors rather than victims. The organization’s name was also changed to the Orange County Rape Crisis Center to reflect its county-wide service area.
The 1980s saw the staff grow to four people and services expand to include children, male-identified survivors and adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse prevention programs were started. The center also hired its first male staff member.
During the 1990s, the center moved from West Rosemary Street to a location on Estes Drive. In 1998, a satellite office was opened in Hillsborough.
In 2002, the Rape Crisis Center began using a bilingual answering service for the after-hours crisis line. In 2003, the first countywide Sexual Assault Response Team was started to encourage collaboration among medical, legal and law enforcement agencies. The collaboration continues today. In 2007, the Rape Crisis Center started a Latino/Latina Services program to offer bilingual and culturally competent services to Latinas, Latinos and other Spanish-speakers. These services include our crisis response services, support groups and community education programs.
The Rape Crisis Center saw expansion again in 2009, both in terms of its physical space and its services. The move to its current location at The Center offices at the intersection of Franklin Street and Estes Drive allowed for greater space to accommodate its growing family of staff and volunteers. And the Community Education program expanded to include preschool programs as well as specialized programs for students with intellectual disabilities.
The Orange County Rape Crisis Center employs twelve staff members, five full-time and seven part-time, and has an approximate annual budget of $550,000.
Some information taken from Rochelle Williams' article 30 Years of Serving Orange County: An Historical Perspective.
The article appeared in the August 2004 issue of The Center Line.Further Reading
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Oral History Interview with Miriam Slifkin, OCRCC Founder
Read or listen to this nearly 2 hour interview at UNC's Documenting the American South web site.
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Through community support, a need is met
Read an interview and history of the center from the Carrboro Citizen, October 2009.
