Grant to aid victims of sexual assault

Sexual Assault Support Services of Lane County, or SASS, is one of five such nonprofit organizations in the state that will receive grant funding from the Oregon Department of Justice.

SASS will receive $60,000 of the $239,865 in grant money through the department’s new Sexual Assault Services Program.

“These grants will play an essential role in the coordinated community response to sexual assault by helping victims get the immediate support they need in a time of crisis,” deputy district attorney general Mary Williams said in a statement.

The grants are funded by the federal Violence Against Women Act Sexual Assault Services Program. It is the first federal funding provided solely for direct intervention and related assistance to adult and child victims of sexual assault, according to the Department of Justice.

In addition to SASS, grants also went to Battered Persons Advocacy in Douglas County ($58,799), Catholic Charities in Multnomah County ($35,078), Mid-Valley Women’s Crisis Center in Marion County ($45,000) and Sexual Assault Resource Center in Washington County ($52,282).

The funding will allow the organizations to serve about 250 sexual assault survivors within the first year, fund new staff positions and increase access to sexual assault services, increase services to marginalized and underserved communities and enhance victim accessibility to crisis hotlines, according to the Justice Department.

Maria Paladino, SASS’s executive director, was out of the office and not available for comment on Friday.

Paladino received the Justice Department’s CHANGE (Creating Healthy Alternatives to Promote Nonviolence and Gender Equity) award in December.