No Survivor Left Behind
Updated: Oct 27
Project Sister Family Services and House of Ruth join a statewide effort to protect funding for sexual assault and domestic violence services.
A rape crisis center and a domestic violence agency, united by mission and rooted in the same community, have joined hundreds of organizations across California urging the state to sustain critical funding for victims of crime.
On May 5, leaders from Project Sister Family Services and House of Ruth will stand together in Sacramento for Policy Advocacy Day, bringing the voices of survivors from Eastern Los Angeles County and Western San Bernardino County directly to their legislators. Their message is urgent and clear: California must protect funding for sexual assault and domestic violence services. For survivors in their community, this is not a policy debate. It is life and death.
Project Sister Family Services is a rape crisis center, and House of Ruth is a domestic violence agency. The two organizations serve many of the same survivors in the same communities, often side by side. Together, they have signed on in support of the California VOCA Advocacy Alliance, a statewide group of nearly 300 organizations calling on Governor Gavin Newsom and California legislators to protect the funding that keeps survivors safe. See full letter below.
Every day, survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence reach out for help. They call crisis lines. They knock on shelter doors. They sit in hospital exam rooms waiting for an advocate. The services they depend on, including emergency shelter, rape crisis response, counseling, legal advocacy, and court accompaniment, exist because of federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding. Federal cuts slashed that funding by 45% in 2024 and 40% in 2025, and the impact is felt right here in our community.
California has stepped up twice to fill the gap left by federal cuts, and we are grateful. Survivor services should never be left to chance. The safety of crime victims is a California responsibility, and our legislators must treat it that way. For survivors in our community, this is not a budget line. It is life and death.
When Funding Disappears, Survivors Are Left Behind
In 2023 alone, 942,000 survivors in California received services made possible by VOCA. In our region and across the state, those services meant a shelter bed for a mother fleeing abuse, a rape crisis advocate in the emergency room at 2 a.m., a counselor helping a child process trauma, and a legal advocate who helped a survivor navigate a system the survivor never asked to be part of.
Without continued state funding to bridge the federal gap, programs will be forced to cut staff, reduce hours, and turn survivors away. Crisis lines will go unanswered. Shelter beds will disappear. Wait times for counseling will grow. The survivors hit hardest will be those with the fewest options: people in rural areas, LGBTQ+ survivors, immigrant and undocumented individuals, and communities of color who already face the greatest barriers to getting help.
The choice not to fund these services is a choice to let the phone ring when a survivor calls. Project Sister Family Services and House of Ruth refuse to accept that outcome.
Two Organizations. One Community. One Mission.
In Eastern Los Angeles County and Western San Bernardino County, Project Sister and House of Ruth form a continuum of care that survivors count on. When a survivor of domestic violence needs a safe place to go, House of Ruth opens its doors. When a survivor of sexual assault needs a crisis advocate, forensic support, or someone to walk beside them through the unimaginable, Project Sister is there.
Often, they work together because survivors’ needs don’t fit neatly into one category, and neither does their response.
“Project Sister and House of Ruth walk alongside survivors through some of the most painful moments imaginable. We answer calls that are literally lifelines for many… What we do every day is possible because of Victims of Crime funding.
“We are not asking for anything extraordinary. We are asking California to ensure the phone gets answered when a victim calls.”
Michelle Cates, MSW
Executive Director, Project Sister Family Services
Sofia’s Story
Late one night, a Project Sister advocate answered a hotline call. A hospital needed someone to come. A survivor was there.
When the advocate arrived, she met “Sofia” (name changed to protect privacy). Sofia was there for a sexual assault forensic exam, frightened, exhausted, and not yet ready to say everything out loud. The advocate sat with her. She didn’t rush her. And slowly, Sofia began to talk.
The man who had raped her was her ex-partner. He had been physically abusive for years. She had recently tried to leave. Project Sister’s advocate stayed with her through the exam and followed up in the days after.
When Sofia was ready, her advocate made a warm handoff to House of Ruth: a personal introduction, not a referral slip. At House of Ruth, Sofia began therapy. She started to name what had happened to her. She started to reclaim who she was before the violence.
In the months that followed, both organizations walked beside her. Project Sister’s legal advocates guided her through the court process, explaining every step, accompanying her to hearings, and making sure she never had to face the system alone. House of Ruth helped her do the deeper work: untangling her sense of self from a relationship that had tried to erase it.
Sofia’s story began with a phone call that was answered. It is exactly what is at risk if California fails to act.
Protecting Services for Survivors
VOCA funding is what makes this possible. The Fund Survivors coalition is calling on California to provide $100 million to protect these services while a long-term state funding solution takes root.
Both organizations are proud to add their voices and to speak on behalf of every survivor in their community who deserves an answer when they reach out for help. They are calling on community members, local leaders, and elected officials to add their voices to this effort.
“Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault have already been victimized by their perpetrator. They should not be turned away, because of lack of service availability, due to funding cuts. This only retraumatizes survivors and their children.
“We need to be there when they need us the most!”
Pat Bell
Chief Executive Officer, House of Ruth, Inc.
About the Organizations
Project Sister Family Services is a rape crisis center dedicated to reducing the trauma and risk of sexual assault and child abuse through 24/7 crisis and hotline response, counseling, advocacy, and prevention education. Project Sister has served Eastern Los Angeles County and Western San Bernardino County since 1972. Learn more at projectsister.org or call (909) 626-4357.
House of Ruth is a comprehensive domestic violence agency dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence and ensuring the safety of those impacted through 24/7 hotline response, residential shelter, counseling, case management, legal advocacy, housing support, and prevention education. House of Ruth has served Eastern Los Angeles County and Western San Bernardino County for the past 50 years. Learn more at houseofruthinc.org or call (909) 623-4364.
The Fund Survivors Coalition is a statewide alliance of 299 organizations urging California to provide $100 million to offset the federal VOCA funding gap and protect services for one million survivors of crime annually. Learn more at fundsurvivors.com.
Media Contacts
Michelle Cates, MSW
Executive Director, Project Sister Family Services
(909) 623-1619 | mcates@projectsister.org
Pat Bell
Chief Executive Officer, House of Ruth, Inc.
(909) 868-8008 | pbell@houseofruthinc.org
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