.The Pendulum
NEWS
Thursday April 7, 2005 • Page 7
Supply is low but demand is high for cash at CrossRoads
>> j/“ — \x/f» ViQVf* tr» fr»r PJrilrn tr* th#»m Ko/'lr ”
■Krista Naposki and Beth Elmore
News Editor and Reporter
CrossRoads, a sexual assault response and
resource center, needs the North Carolina leg
islature to help out with money flow, for both
the Latino community and the children’s advo
cacy center in Alamance county.
The Alamance County Children’s Advocacy
Center is one of North Carolina’s 15 Advocacy
Centers. Hudson Fuller, executive director,
said the center “currently can afford to employ
only one advocate to work with the children
full-time.” Right now there are twin bills,
H130 and S328, going through the House and
the Senate, and if passed will provide $50,000
to each of the 15 centers for the fiscal years
July 2005 to June 2006, and 2006 to 2007. To
^^^p track of the progress of the bill, you can
So to http://www.ncleg.net and type in the bill
number.
Alice Bordsen, an Alamance County House
Representative, is a co-sponsor of the bill. The
CrossRoads Center has only had a $2,500 non-
rcnewable grant for their work, so if the bill
passes, it will have great benefits for the center.
One can only imagine the possibilities to help
the Alamance community with several times
their original grant amount,” Fuller said.
Currently, Erika Reynolds, part-time Latino
^ ^ One of the most difficult aspects of my job is not having enough
time to feel I’m being effective in my outreach efforts and it has
been a bit difficult to approach community leaders in a manner as to
convey that CrossRoads is an available resource ...
—Erika Reynolds, Latino outreach coordinator, CrossRoads ^ ^
outreach coordinator, and Hudson Fuller, exec
utive director-of CrossRoads, are the only
Spanish speaking staff members at
CrossRoads.
“The best part of my job is interacting with
the Hispanic/Latino community. It provides
me an opportunity to listen to and see what's
going.on and learn more about the people I
work with,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds works 10 hours a week. Her
stipend could end this June if the Govemment
Crime Commission does not renew
CrossRoads’ grant.
Fuller would also like to see the grant
extended so that CrossRoads could have a full
time Latino outreach coordinator.
Reynolds “has been able to work with
Spanish-speaking clients, attend events, trans
late materials, and return phone calls ... she
allows for direct services,” Fuller said.
For both niches of people, CrossRoads helps
in the communication process and decreases
anxiety for victims. Fuller said victims’ family
members are not always reliable for an accu
rate translation. Also, when a victim files a
complaint with the police first, CrossRoads
can use their translator, but then the interview
is not confidential. This type of envuDnment
could potentially limit what the victim is com
fortable saying during the interview.
The Children’s Advocacy Center in
Alamance County helps to alleviate the need
for multiple explanations by having officers,
social services and doctors located in one,
child-fiiendly environment
Currently, 20 to 26 volunteers are actively
working at CrossRoads. CrossRoads gets
three to four Spanish phone calls a week, but
Fuller thinks the number would increase if
more of the Latino community was aware of
the options he or she has.
“Currently, there aren’t any Spanish speak
ing volunteers,” Fuller said, “This is a problem
because if someone calls and they’re in crisis
we have to wait for Erika to call them back.’
Volunteers who participate in crisis interven
tion attend 20 hours of training. The training is
scheduled about three times a year, and then
during the year there is continued training to
educate volunteers about new laws and
legislation.
“Were there to be more bilingual volunteers,
I would like to have active participation on the
crisis line,” Reynolds said. “I would also like
to co-host an event to heighten awareness in
the Hispanic/Latino community about the
services we offer and about important issues
with regards to personal rights that
men,women and children have.”
“Volunteers don’t have to be involved in cri
sis. They can go into the school systems to
speak, or help out in other ways,” Fuller said.
Training is not required by law, but is rec
ommended in order to comply with statutes.
Trained volunteers have the privilege of hold
ing confidential conversations with victims.
They don’t have to disclose any information to
the state. CrossRoads can be reached at (336)
228-0813.
Contact Krista Naposki and Beth Elmore at
pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
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