User talk:Sethie/shc

The Survivors Healing Center is a not-for-profit located in Santa Cruz County, California. Founded in 1987 it's mission is to provide services for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and educate the public and service agencies about the issue. According to the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center the Survivors Healing Center is one of the few centers in the world that focuses primarily on childhood sexual abuse. []

History
The idea for the Survivors Healing Center came about through Poet and author Ellen Bass.

Activities
The Survivors Healing Center offers groups therapy for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It also put on an annual "Art of Healing," [], an event which allows survivors to share artwork they have created in expressive art therapy or any form of created art dealing with their recovery.

Part of the mission of SHC is to raise awareness of childhood sexual abuse, which has been called a heavily unreported "epidenic" []. Often childhood sexual abuse goes unreported due to shame of the victim and/or coercion by the family to keep silent. In response to this and in association with April National Child Abuse Awareness Month, the Survivors Healing Center runs an annual "Walk to End the Silence," an event with the intention of bringing childhood sexual abuse into public awareness.

Awards and Public Recognition
The Survivors Healing Center was awarded a bronze medal from the Santa Cruz Metro in the non-for profit category. []. It has received two Mayoral Proclamation from mayors of Santa Cruz.

In 2008 the California State Assembly issued a proclamation honoring the Survivor Healing Center for their work.