September 18, 2024

Under the warm summer sun, the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center (MCRCC) was out in full force, connecting with and serving our community. Each of our dedicated teams worked diligently within their roles, achieving significant milestones in community outreach, prevention education, and crisis intervention. In this blog post, we’ll take you through the highlights of our busy summer—from the Community Engagement team’s involvement in major events like National Night Out, to the Crisis Intervention team’s efforts to support survivors across the county, and the Prevention Education team’s exciting new projects that aim to further enhance safety and care in our communities as we transition into the fall.

Summer for the Community Engagement team is filled with many tabling opportunities, as well as presentations. One of our biggest events of the year is National Night Out (NNO), which requires more than just the three CE members. NNO is an all-hands-on-deck annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. This year, MCRCC attended NNO hosted by Seaside PD, with Bianca Hernandez and Wendy Alvarado in attendance; King City PD, with Robyn Guzik; Soledad PD, with Gracie Garcia and Giselle Lazaro; Greenfield PD, with Nadia Rodriguez; and Salinas PD, with Desteney Garcia and Ashley Miranda. Alongside these tabling events, the Community Engagement team attended and presented at various seminars and symposiums. Lauren DaSilva and Desteney Garcia presented at the Human Trafficking Symposium, and many of the MCRCC team members have been presenting both virtually and in person at CSUMB’s First Year Student Seminar.

For the Prevention Education team, summer means winding down student activities as the school year ends. However, this provides more time for professional development and new ideas and projects for the upcoming school year. One new project is the Monterey County Youth Coalition for Gender Equity. Giselle Lazaro and Andy Ortiz are working alongside The Epicenter on the MCYCGE project to connect with youth who will work together to create safer spaces and dismantle harmful gender norms in our community. Their goal is to positively impact the community through long-term cultural and policy change. During this time, the Prevention Education team has also supported the Community Engagement team with the influx of tabling events throughout the summer.

The Crisis Intervention team has been busy at work throughout the summer, assisting with accompaniments, forensic interviews, and medical exams. MCRCC was fortunate to hire two new members for the team: Ashley Miranda, Crisis Intervention Services Specialist, and Nadia Rodriguez, Crisis Intervention Specialist. With the opening of the new King City Family Justice Center, Nadia will be present to support South County families. With Ashley on board, she will take on our volunteer advocate program, in addition to serving as the counterpart for CSUMB’s Campus Advocate.

MCRCC always strives to stay informed with the latest resources and care for survivors. Multiple MCRCC staff members attended various conferences this summer and shared their knowledge with other staff and clients. Nadia Rodriguez and Rosa Zavala attended the National Sexual Assault Conference in Washington, DC. Lauren DaSilva, Paola Martinez, Andy Ortiz, Lorelei Ahlemeyer, Wendy Alvarado, Giselle Lazaro, and Ashley Miranda attended the ValorUs Statewide Conference in San Diego.

Now that fall is arriving to close out the summer, MCRCC is excited for new upcoming opportunities. One major project the MCRCC team is working on is Law Enforcement SART Protocol training, where MCRCC staff present to all law enforcement agencies in Monterey County. MCRCC has also been diligently attending back-to-school nights throughout the county, whether for TK students and their families or for college students. And as fall approaches, we are ready to kick off the school year with multiple age-appropriate safety presentations for students.