HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” CONTACT Rape Crisis Center invites the community to join in celebrating its 55th birthday at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 7, in the ballroom of Trinity Episcopal Church, 520 11th St. in Huntington.
This special milestone event will feature a brunch catered by La Famiglia and remarks from guest speaker Alys Smith, first lady of Marshall University and a longtime advocate for justice and community well-being, according to a release from CONTACT.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSheÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s always been a big supporter of women and of our community, and one of our big mottos here at CONTACT is that healing is possible,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Melinda Perron, assistant director, said about the theme for SmithÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s speech. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œFor a lot of survivors, when they first experience this really huge trauma, it just kind of feels like theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re never gonna get out of it. They just, a lot of times feel really stuck or really depressed or really anxious. And so the big thing that we want people to know is that it is possible to get through it, and it is possible to heal from these difficult things that happen to you.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
There will also be a silent auction with 30 different items including a vacation to Antigua, a chair hand painted by a Marshall student and other items donated from local businesses.
CONTACT began as a suicide prevention hotline initiated by local churches. At one point, it was in the basement of River Park Hospital. Over the past five and a half decades, the organization has evolved into a comprehensive rape crisis center, serving survivors of sexual violence, sex trafficking and stalking across six counties in southwestern West Virginia, the release states.
The organization has offices in Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo and Wayne counties.
Sharon Pressman started as the executive director about 25 years ago. At that time, CONTACT had two paid employees. Today it has 15 employees and a full office in each of the six West Virginia counties that it covers. Perron said that Pressman will be retiring at the end of 2025.
Perron said theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d originally planed a 50th anniversary celebration but it was canceled with the pandemic.
In 2024 alone, CONTACT supported 949 survivors, including 359 children ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” a significant increase from the previous year. This work is made possible by the commitment of volunteers, staff, board members and donors who have stood beside the organization for over 50 years, a news release states.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re really looking forward to celebrating all of the hundreds and thousands of people in the community that have gotten together to make this work over the years,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Perron said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œYou can imagine what it was like for people to go and sit in the basement of a hospital all night waiting for the phone to ring, and thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a lot of dedication. Now most of our volunteers are Marshall students, and they just have to use their own cell phone at home. But itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s really inspiring what people did and had to go through to get CONTACT started back before there was really anything out there for victims of violent crime.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Funds raised at the event will ensure that people in crisis continue to receive free, confidential advocacy services, no matter when or how they reach out for help, according to the release.
Tickets are available online at or from CONTACT board members. As of Wednesday afternoon, there are about 15 tickets left.
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