Cleveland Rape Crisis Center to open new office on Cleveland's east side

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center will open a new office at Shaker Square on the city's East Side this summer, according to a news release from the center.

The new location, funded through a grant from the Ohio Attorney General's Office, will make healing services for survivors of rape, sexual abuse and sex trafficking more accessible to residents who live or work on the East Side.

The future home of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center will be at 13209 Shaker Square, the space between Dewey's Coffee Shop and CVS. The 4,890-square-foot space will be equipped with space for counseling services, support groups and crisis intervention services.

“While we have expanded services regionally in recent years, our commitment to the residents of the City of Cleveland has never been greater,” said Sondra Miller, President & CEO of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. “More than 80 percent of residents near Shaker Square are African-American and we know that African-American women and girls experience higher rates of sexual violence. It makes sense for us to expand where the need is greatest.”

When the Shaker Square Office opens, the center will operate 20 locations throughout Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties and on several college campuses.

In 2018, the center provided counseling, advocacy and crisis intervention to 10,000 rape and sexual abuse survivors and reached 54,000 people through its prevention programs across Northeast Ohio.

An exact date on when the new office would open hasn’t been released yet.