I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”           

                                           Maya Angelou

Dear Friend,

Your contributions do make a difference.  Together we are helping survivors feel heard, nurtured and cared for by their community.  We hope you will continue to partner with us in our efforts to support survivors and their significant others and to significantly reduce the incidence of this horrific crime.

This year, BAWAR celebrates 40 years of continuous service.  Because of you, we’ve been able to weather financial storms and challenges and were able to focus our efforts completely on our important mission.   That is the story we share of rebuilding lives and community. Today we would like to give you a closer look at our Latina Outreach Program.  As the fastest growing ethnic group inAlamedaCounty, BAWAR is committed to providing comprehensive, culturally sensitive and language appropriate services to the Latino/Latina survivors in our community.  Our goal is to break the silence of sexual abuse in the Latino community by launching a massive campaign that promotes our 24-hour hotline, accompaniment, advocacy and counseling services provided in Spanish. This, of course, is not possible without amazing volunteers. BAWAR is the first rape crisis center inNorthern California to provide advocacy certification training in Spanish. We have facilitated four trainings and certified over 80 Spanish speaking counselors.

Among the most heartfelt realities facing inner city youth survivors of sexual assault is they are trying to heal from a violent crime in a violent environment.  When survivors lack a safe place to heal, they develop strong feelings of fear, anxiety, depression and anger and often fall into a cycle of violence that can feel insurmountable.  BAWAR believes that youth survivors deserve a peaceful place to explore their feelings.  To this end, BAWAR offers inner city girls who have suffered sexual abuse a chance to immerse themselves in a 5-day camping trip toYosemiteNational Park.  The scope of the retreat is to help survivors of sexual violence regain a sense of power and control by using nature as a safe place to explore their feelings as well as a powerful tool to help them transcend this doleful and painful experience.  Our goal is to expand this camp to female adult survivors and male incest survivors.

Without you, our supporters, these and other vital services would not be possible. I hope you can join us in feeling proud of all that we have accomplished over the past 40 years and be excited about our plans for the future.  We are so grateful for your partnership, and I hope you will be able to continue to support us during these difficult economic times. If possible, a donation equal to, or exceeding your past gifts, would mean so much to us now

With very best wishes,

Marcia Blackstock

Executive Director