Support Sexual Assault Survivors
Your gift is part of the circle of care.
When a survivor reaches out for help, their needs may extend beyond a single conversation. They may need someone to listen, an advocate beside them at a hospital, or ongoing counseling to heal through the effects of trauma.
At Project Sister Family Services, these services form a circle of care. Each piece supports our mission to reduce the trauma and risk of sexual assault and child abuse.
Your generosity helps sustain that circle.
For more than 50 years, Project Sister has served Eastern Los Angeles County and Western San Bernardino County through crisis intervention, counseling, advocacy, and prevention education. Our staff, volunteers, community partners, and donors help make this work possible.
Here is how each piece of the circle supports survivors and our community.
24/7 Crisis Hotline
A phone line available day or night where a trained person listens and helps survivors find support.
Example: Someone calls after an assault to talk and learn where to get help.
Our 24-hour crisis hotline connects survivors with trained volunteer advocates who offer compassionate listening, information, and referrals to available services.
Advocates can provide information about reporting an assault and help callers connect with additional support. A hotline conversation gives someone an opportunity to ask questions and learn about their options.
Your generosity helps sustain the training and support behind this around-the-clock service.
If you or someone you know needs help, call our sexual assault crisis hotline at 909-626-4357 (HELP) or our child abuse hotline at 626-966-4155.
Volunteer Training
Training that teach volunteers how to listen, support survivors, and explain their options.
Example: A volunteer practices how to answer a hotline call with care.
Supporting survivors requires both compassion and preparation.
Project Sister’s volunteer advocates complete 40 hours of state-certified training. They provide support through the crisis hotline and in-person response at local hospitals, working alongside medical professionals, law enforcement, and community partners.
Training prepares volunteers to serve survivors with care, confidence, and sensitivity.
A gift of $25 helps provide one hour of volunteer training to support our 24/7 hotline services.
Survivor Advocacy
Someone who supports a survivor at the hospital, police station, or court and helps them understand their choices.
Example: An advocate stays beside a survivor during a hospital exam.
Project Sister’s advocates support survivors at hospitals, police stations, and court appearances. They provide emotional support, information, and follow-up services as survivors navigate unfamiliar processes.
That support includes accompanying survivors during sexual assault forensic exams, sometimes called SART exams. A specially trained nurse performs the exam at a hospital or specialized clinic. The exam can collect evidence that may be used in a criminal case.
SART stands for Sexual Assault Response Team—the professionals who coordinate care and support after a sexual assault. The exam itself is called a sexual assault forensic exam, though people sometimes refer to it as a “SART exam.”
A Project Sister advocate stays beside the survivor, helps them understand their options, and offers emotional support throughout the exam, which typically takes two to four hours.
A gift of $150 helps provide one hour of advocacy during a sexual assault forensic exam.
Your contribution supports time spent beside a survivor during an experience that can feel overwhelming.
Trauma-Informed Counseling
Free, trauma-informed counseling provided by certified counselors who support survivors’ healing at their own pace.
Example: A child works with a counselor to understand their feelings and feel safe after abuse.
Project Sister provides free, trauma-informed counseling for sexual assault survivors of all ages and minors who have experienced child abuse. Non-offending family members may also be eligible for counseling.
What does “trauma-informed” mean? It means understanding how frightening or harmful experiences can affect a person’s feelings, sense of safety, and ability to trust others. Counselors use this understanding to provide exeptional counseling sessions weekly and aid a survivor on their healing journey.
Why it matters: Survivors may have experienced a loss of control. This approach helps them feel safe and heard, without pressure to share before they are ready.
Services are available to eligible people who live, work, or attend school in our service area, or who were assaulted within it. No insurance or payment is required.
Counseling is not capped at a fixed number of sessions, and people who have previously received services are welcome to return. Specialized support groups are also offered for adults, adolescents, and non-offending family members of sexual assault survivors.
A gift of $300 helps provide two therapy sessions for a survivor. A gift of $500 helps provide one month of therapy for a child who has experienced abuse.
Your support helps keep care accessible as survivors work through their experiences at their own pace.
Healing Through Art
Classes where people use art to express feelings that may be hard to explain.
Example: Someone paints a picture to share how they feel.
Art can offer another way to express feelings when words are difficult to find.
Project Sister’s healing art therapy classes are available to children, teens, adults, and aging adults affected by sexual violence. Art therapy is an especially useful tool for those who are processing traumatic events in their life. Survivors use art therapy to strengthen their voice, express their complex emotions without words, and slow down during triggering times. Supplies can include paper, crayons, watercolors, brushes, and other art materials.
A gift of $50 helps provide supplies for one healing art therapy class.
These materials support opportunities for creative expression as part of the healing process.
Community Self-Defense
Free classes that teach boundaries, safety awareness, and ways to protect yourself.
Example: Someone practices saying “Stop” and moving away from an unsafe situation.
Project Sister offers free community self-defense classes. Its trauma-informed self-defense programming includes boundary setting, situational awareness, and practical safety skills.
Donations help cover space rental, supplies, and training for new team members.
A gift of $75 helps provide one hour of free community self-defense instruction.
These classes offer opportunities to build skills and confidence. Responsibility for sexual violence always rests with the person who causes harm.
Prevention Education
Lessons for young people and adults at schools, community locations, and our office about sexual abuse, respecting boundaries, staying safe, and finding help.
Example: During a school workshop, students practice asking permission, respecting someone’s “no,” and identifying a trusted adult they can turn to for help. These activities teach them to respect boundaries and recognize when something is unsafe.
Project Sister’s education and prevention programs help communities understand sexual assault, challenge common myths, and learn about safety and reporting.
Prevention education takes place in schools, community, and professional settings. This program is free and can be scheduled upon request with our office. Our team works hard to accept every possible request to ensure that our community is informed of the laws, their rights, and who to turn to for help.
Your generosity helps sustain education and outreach efforts that bring information and resources into our community.
This work complements direct survivor services by strengthening awareness and understanding.
Awareness & Policy Advocacy
Helping the public and lawmakers understand survivors’ needs and asking for laws and funding that support them.
Example: Project Sister asks lawmakers to protect funding for crisis hotlines and counseling.
Raising awareness and advocating for policies and funding that protect survivors and sustain essential services.
Project Sister’s public awareness work includes community gatherings, educational activities, and events during Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April).
The organization also works alongside partners such as House of Ruth to advocate for funding that supports survivor services. Its published advocacy efforts include support for the California VOCA Advocacy Alliance and calls for state investment to help address reductions in federal victim services funding.
Supporting Project Sister helps sustain an organization that provides direct care and speaks up for continued access to essential services.
Every Piece Matters
A hotline call can connect someone with counseling. Hospital accompaniment can lead to follow-up support. Prevention education can help community members better understand sexual violence and available resources.
Each part contributes to a broader circle of care.
Project Sister relies in part on federal Victims of Crime Act funding, which has declined in recent years. Community generosity helps support the services survivors depend on.
The donation examples above illustrate what donations at different levels can help provide. Whatever the amount, your contribution helps sustain this work.
Help Keep the Circle of Care Strong
Please make your year-end gift by December 31, 2026, to support survivors and prevention efforts in the year ahead.
Thank you for helping survivors access compassionate care, informed choices, and ongoing support.
You’re not alone. It wasn’t your fault. We’re here to help.
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