• SOS quotes from DAWN

    “I was so surprised when I got to my room at shelter and my advocate showed me my welcome basket! I didn’t have anything and I was so worried about having to buy laundry soap and toothbrushes and toothpaste for me and my kids because I had to leave everything behind. It made me feel so welcome and taken care of. Thank you for everything!”

    “Thank you so much for my beautiful welcome basket. It had everything I needed, and I was so grateful. When my advocate showed me everything and told me it was all mine to have, in that moment I felt more like a cherished guest than a client. After all the stress of fleeing and finally escaping my abuser, it meant so much to have all the necessities taken care of. Thank you for thinking of us and taking a little bit of the burden off our shoulders!”

    “When I got to my room and saw the beautiful welcome basket, I felt so relieved. I knew coming into shelter was the right choice but I was worried it was going to be a sterile environment for my family. The welcome basket helped us all feel like we were home and I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to supply these things for my children.”

    “I had been fleeing for a while, so getting to shelter and finally having some thing I could call ‘mine’ was incredible. Being able to do laundry and having soft, clean…

  • Comments From a Grateful Community

    “Even though I didn’t need clothes, getting clean underwear and being able to clean up before my police interview was so nice.”
    – Survivor from St. Michael Medical Center in Bremerton

    “Wow my patient felt so good being able to get out of those dirty clothes into sweats that were clean.”
    – SANE nurse from St. Michael Medical Center in Bremerton

    “My patient wasn’t going to give me her clothes (that probably had the suspects DNA on them) until I showed her that we had sweats, undies, and hygiene products for her.”
    -SANE nurse from Bremerton

    “Without the assault survivor kits provided to area hospitals by the Assistance League of the Eastside, survivors of sexual assault would not have underwear and other clothing needed to be taken as evidence during the exam. Going through a terribly traumatic experience like a sexual assault is hard enough, let alone going to an ER for an examination, having to repeat the details of the trauma to others during the exam and then having clothing taken away to be kept as evidence. The assault survivor kits are immeasurably helpful to sexual assault survivors in that they can leave after the examination in the ER with appropriate clothing and retain some level of dignity when they leave. Swedish Medical Center is grateful for this service and without it, we would not be able to fully provide to survivors the care and compassion they so greatly deserve.”
    -SANE nurse quote from Swedish

    “Thank you for giving me clothes and stuff to clean up…