If you have been a victim of sexual assault or another crime, we are here for you.  We help children, adults and elders.  Our goal is to help crime victims and loved ones regain their personal power.

We support people on the worst days of their lives and in their darkest hours. Survivors are believed, supported and connected to the services and benefits they are entitled to. We strive to reduce the effects of trauma on the survivor and on our community.

We support anyone who identifies as a crime victim. There are no legal burdens for victimization to be met. Services are free and available to anyone. We have a Spanish-speaking advocate available and other language needs can be met through a free interpreter service.

As a Trauma-Informed Care organization, Lutheran Community Services Northwest strives to ensure that individuals of all ages have timely access to services from knowledgeable caring providers. To provide culturally appropriate behavioral healthcare and related services, our experienced staff seek to understand each person’s unique situation, and then develop a plan to assist individuals on their path to wellness through counseling and skill building.

We educate the community about the effects of crime victimization and sexual violence. We advocate for victims’ rights in the community and we advocate for individual victims and their loved ones on a personal level.

We support sexual assault and other crime victims with their medical needs.

• Information about medical care/concerns, including assistance with needed follow up
• Assistance in making informed decisions about medical care
• Support at medical exams and appointments
• Sexual assault nurse examiner services

We are here to help crime and sexual assault victims navigate our legal system.  We work with victims to reduce the trauma of dealing with our legal system.

• Assistance in making informed decisions about reporting
• Information about criminal justice systems, civil remedies and dependency
• Assistance in obtaining crime victim compensation benefits, civil remedies and dependency
• Assistance in preparing for court and support at interviews, trials and sentencings
• Information about victim rights in a legal setting
• Assistance with civil orders of protection

The best way to stop sexual abuse and violent trauma is through education, prevention and awareness.

• Advocating for victim rights in different systems and at community events
• Helping to create system change for the benefit of crime victims
• Sexual Violence prevention education
• Community education and training about the effects of crime victimization
• Outreach to victims at various community locations
• Organizing Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Human Trafficking Awareness Month, Valentine’s Day and National Crime Victim’s Rights Week activities

We are here to help sexual assault and other crime victims heal.

• Crisis intervention and stabilization related to victimization
• Information about the effects of victimization
• Personal support related to victimization, and arranging services to enhance healing/recovery
• Psycho-educational support groups (sexual violence survivors and their non-offending caregivers only)

Your privacy and safety are very important to us. The text hotline provides confidential, one-on-one crisis support. You can chat with a certified victim advocate who will provide you with information and referrals through a secure texting/ instant messenger format, or simply offer a safe place to talk about what happened.

Please make sure you are in a safe place and that you are using a secure device and/or internet connection. Please note that while we have taken numerous measures to keep your communications safe while using our site, no internet or text transmission is 100%  secure.

Texting the hotline reveals your phone number.

Please check out this link for more information about safety and technology: https://techsafetyapp.org/home

Technology is a powerful tool to help survivors stay connected and safe. Technology can also be used as a tool to harm, monitor or abuse, especially in cases of domestic violence and stalking. The text hotline cannot entirely eliminate risk. We believe that we’ve done all we can to greatly minimize the risks. Read below for ways to help us protect your privacy and safety.

• Text or call from a safe location and secure device and internet connection your conversation cannot be monitored from.

• Do not reveal identifying information during your conversation.

• Delete your internet, text or call history

During your chat, you do not have to share any personal information like your age, name or where you live. We also recommend that you not record or store any sessions in order to protect your privacy. Once you have finished your text session, it is important that you take steps to delete the text history and clean your device’s cache and history, then erase the cookies on your computer or mobile device. This lessens the risk of anyone from going into your computer or device and checking up on your internet activity.

Check out these helpful websites for more safety planning about technology:

• https://www.techsafety.org/resources-survivors/technology-safety-plan
• https://www.techsafety.org/resources-survivors
• https://www.techsafety.org/iphoneguide
• https://www.techsafety.org/12tipscellphones
• https://techsafetyapp.org/home

Our advocates use a third party platform to message you. Advocates use this software during business hours from our office computers on a secure network. Though information such as the phone number you are texting us from will be visible, we do not store your contact information and delete chat conversations after they are finished.