Central MN Sexual Assault Center (CMSAC) provides free and confidential services to all victim/survivors of sexual violence and to concerned support family and friends. We work to ensure all survivors of sexual violence have access to services regardless of age, race, economic status, lifestyle, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, and differing abilities.
CMSAC provides services to individuals and organizations within Stearns, Benton, Sherburne, and Wright Counties of Central Minnesota. Some of these services include: 24-Hour Crisis Phone Line, One-to-One Support Counseling, Human Trafficking Advocacy, Safe Harbor Direct Services, Orders for Protection, Harassment Restraining Orders, Law Enforcement Advocacy, Court advocacy, Hospital Advocacy Services, Support Groups, and more! Community and professional education/trainings are provided. All our services can be found online at https://cmsac.org/services-overview/.
Liz is a Direct Service Provider and the Latino Outreach Coordinator at CMSAC. As a bilingual advocate, Liz provides services in both English and Spanish to both clients and the community. She understands the importance of working with the Latinx community and having someone they can connect and meet with without a cultural or language barrier.
Some of Liz’s roles includes doing one-to-one support counseling with Spanish speaking victim/survivors. She has also led groups in schools for Latinx identified students. Sexual violence is often not openly talked about in Spanish speaking families/cultures. Therefore, creating a space where students can connect and have open communication with someone who looks like them on different sexual violence topics is very important.
In May 2020, Liz started creating educational posts for CMSAC’s Facebook page in both English and Spanish relating to Sexual Violence in the Latinx Community. This has been a great opportunity to reach out to the Latinx/Spanish speaking community about services at CMSAC while at the same time, sharing education specific to the community. Some topics covered are: Toxic Masculinity/ Machismo in the Latinx Community, Barriers to reporting in the Latinx Community, Intimate Partner Violence among Latina Women, Ways to Support Latinx Survivors of Sexual Violence, Mental Health in Latinx Culture, Deportation as a Barrier to Healing, Supporting Local Latinx/ Hispanic Businesses for Latinx/ Hispanic Heritage Month.
Feel free to check out our Facebook for more posts to come!
Contact Elizabeth Mendez Ochoa today! (emendezochoa@cmsac.org)
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