MEDINA, Ohio — A local sexual assault survivor is on a mission to help others who have also lived through traumatic situations.
Kelsey Lambrakis, of North Ridgeville, is bringing awareness and helping to make changes at local police departments and sheriff's offices so that victims feel believed, supported and comforted.
In 2022, Lambrakis was the victim of a sexual assault in Medina County. The crime was committed by a man she knows.
"It really, truly imploded every inch of my life," Lambrakis said.
When she reported the crime to the Medina County Sheriff's Office, she was interviewed in a room that felt cold, stark and sterile.
Already scared to share her story, she felt like she was a suspect being interrogated in a jail cell.
"The room is the same room where they interrogate perpetrators, and it is very much set up in a way that makes you feel like you're being questioned, maybe not believed," she said.
Several months after the man who assaulted Lambrakis was convicted, she returned to the MCSO to explain to Detective Larry Covey and others how that room made her feel.
"When she was talking, it was kind of like a light bulb. How did we not think of this before?" Covey said.
Detectives listened to what Lambrakis had to say and, ultimately, found a grant through Project Beloved, an organization out of Texas that empowers sexual assault survivors to find their voices.
That intimidating and cold room at the sheriff's office was transformed into what's called a "soft interview room."
It's now designed to be warm and welcoming with artwork, a rug, mirrors and furniture, which were all donated by Project Beloved.
"It is our hope that having a space like a soft interview room and a trauma informed detective will help alleviate fear and anxiety and lead to more/better evidence and ultimately take rapists off the streets," said Tracy Matheson, the founder of Project Beloved.
Walking into the room now feels like a completely different experience for Lambrakis.
"I feel calm," she said.
Lambrakis also raised about $200 for fidgets and other items for the room that could help survivors deal with their fear and anxiety.
"A lot of what's in that room was designed by someone who knows what helps and what doesn't, all the way down to the color on the walls," Covey said.
Lambrakis isn't stopping in Medina. Next week, she plans to meet with Parma Police to help give them ideas about a soft interview room that they are in the process of designing. Her hope is to continue to meet with other law enforcement agencies throughout Northeast Ohio.
"Now I am getting to see this slowly snowball into something more impactful," she said. "It isn't about me. It's about the need for change and bringing that to light."
Lambrakis said she has lived through trauma, but now feels a sense of triumph with her mission of changing one interview room at a time.
"It is my passion to see that change occurs for survivors."
Next Tuesday evening, The Medina County Sheriff's Office will honor Lambrakis with a Star Award, which recognizes and thanks people who have made a difference at the office.
In honor of National Crime Victims Rights Week, the victim/witness division of the Medina County Prosecutor's Office unveiled a new space at the courthouse.
"For a long time, our office has seen the need to create a private, secure and comfortable space for victims in both the courthouse, while they wait for hearings, or to testify in a trial. We are hopeful that this room will help ease some of anxieties for victims that come along with the criminal justice process," said Sue DeSantis, the chief victim advocate for Medina County.
