For generations, advocates have worked to make communities safer for people experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. That work has transformed public understanding of violence and created critical systems of support for survivors. Yet access to those systems has not always been accessible to all. For many survivors, cultural, language and historical barriers can make reaching traditional services more difficult.

Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center (H&H) is working to change that. H&H provides free, confidential support to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking throughout Summit and Medina counties. Through its continuum of services, including 24/7 crisis hotline support, emergency shelter, housing advocacy, trauma therapy, advocacy, case management, support groups, hospital accompaniment, court advocacy, and prevention education, H&H helps survivors find safety, healing, and a path forward.

H&H was awarded funding through the Sexual Assault Services Program award from the Ohio Department of Health (SASP) to expand culturally specific services for Black survivors and Spanish-speaking survivors in Summit County and the surrounding community. The SASP program allows grantees to identify a maximum of two target populations for focused funding, and H&H selected these two communities based on identified barriers to accessing services. The investment recognizes an important reality: providing the same service to everyone does not necessarily mean everyone has the same ability to access or benefit from that service.

For survivors, asking for help can be difficult under any circumstances. Language barriers, concerns about confidentiality, cultural expectations surrounding family and relationships, mistrust of institutions and previous experiences of discrimination can create additional obstacles. H&H’s goal is to reduce those barriers and ensure survivors can access support in ways that feel safe, respectful, and responsive to their experiences.

The funding will allow H&H to intentionally expand this work, not simply offer culturally responsive services when a survivor walks through the door, but actively build relationships with communities that have historically been underserved by traditional systems.

For Spanish-speaking survivors, that means expanding access to services in their preferred language. Through this grant, H&H now contracts with Linda Garcia Cruz, LISW, of Healing Roots Counseling, a bilingual trauma therapist for Spanish-speaking clients. When asked about the importance of this work, she shares:

“Bilingual therapy is not just about translating therapy from English into Spanish. It is about giving someone access to the language that may be most connected to their memories, their emotions, their family, and their sense of self. It also means understanding the culture and experiences surrounding those emotions, including family expectations, immigration experiences, beliefs about relationships, shame, strength, and what people were taught to keep private. To me, culturally responsive care means acknowledging the individual as a whole person and creating a space that meets them where they are in their healing process. It also means systems where a survivor does not have to translate who they are. It means adapting the care to
fit the person, rather than asking the person to mold themselves to fit the system in order to find hope and healing.”

For Black survivors, H&H is intentionally creating opportunities to build trust and connection outside of traditional social-service settings. Staff conduct outreach in community spaces such as libraries, hair salons, barber shops, housing developments and other places where people already live, work and gather. The goal is to make information about domestic and sexual violence, safety and available resources accessible before someone is in crisis and to make H&H a familiar and trusted resource when support is needed.

This work also includes creating spaces specifically designed to reflect the experiences of Black women. This summer, H&H hosted an Empowerment Through Self-Love support group for women of color. Opportunities like these allow survivors not only to receive services, but also to shape the understanding of what effective, culturally responsive support should look like.

H&H is extending this approach to prevention as well. For the second year, H&H is partnering with Limitless Ambition, an organization dedicated to inspiring and equipping girls to dream big and achieve their goals. Through Purposely Chosen, a school-based program centered on the experiences of Black girls, participants develop confidence, resilience, and a deeper understanding of healthy relationships.

As Chief Programming Officer, Ashley Kline, explains, “This partnership is a powerful step toward fostering a community where girls feel seen, heard, and empowered. We know that trust is built through relationships. Sometimes the first step isn’t asking someone to come into a shelter or office. It’s showing up in the places where people already feel connected to their community.”

Community presence is particularly important because culturally specific services are not about creating separate systems for separate groups. H&H serves all survivors, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, or background. Culturally responsive services simply recognize that survivors do not all experience violence, seek help or navigate systems in the same way.

The ODH SASP grant gives H&H an important opportunity to deepen that commitment.

It means more intentional outreach to the Black and Spanish-speaking communities. It means strengthening partnerships with trusted community organizations. It means expanding the availability of culturally and linguistically responsive services. And it means continuing to listen to survivors and communities about what they need to feel safe seeking support.

Through the support of the Sexual Assault Services Program, Hope & Healing is working to make that path easier to find and ensuring that more survivors in our community can see themselves, their experiences and their communities reflected in the support available to them.

To learn more or access support, visit hopeandhealingresources.org or contact the 24/7 hotline at 330-374-1111 by call or text.