Marion County Sexual Assault Center to expand services with CASA Marion

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - The Marion County Sexual Assault Center announced a major expansion to its services.

The center provides services to sexual assault survivors. Officials plan to combine their services with another important outreach program in the county starting this summer.

Effective June 30, the center will expand their services in collaboration with CASA Marion to provide both domestic violence and sexual assault support services under one roof.

CASA Marion was formed two years ago when the previous domestic violence shelter closed.

A fundraising event was held to stand in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault for Denim Day.

Denim Day is a global campaign that encourages people to wear jeans in protest against misconceptions surrounding sexual violence.

Executive Director Betsy Weber said they wanted to spark a conversation while raising funds to support services by the current center and new services they hope to provide when they combine services with CASA Marion under the new name LOTUS.

“We are always needing volunteers, whether you want to actually work hand in hand with survivors and get the extensive training that all of our advocates do, or if you’re wanting to do something more so behind the scenes, and then also with supplies, we have a constant supply list both on Amazon and just by calling our center,” Weber said.

Thousands of dollars were raised on Wednesday that will go directly to programs and services provided by the center.

In addition to being a lieutenant with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Clint Smith serves as a board member for the Marion County Sexual Assault Center. He said advocacy is vital.

“We do an amazing job of holding offenders accountable, but that’s just a small piece of the puzzle. We can’t arrest our way out of it, and we want to partner with our community, and we want to partner with LOTUS Marion to help with that,” Smith said.

Leaders said throughout the transition, survivors will continue to have uninterrupted access to essential services, including emergency shelter, advocacy and support services.

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