Everyday Akron Stories, Non-Profit Feature

Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center | Non-Profit Feature

Rachel Whinnery, creator of Everyday Akron

Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center, formerly known as the Battered Women’s Shelter (BWS) and Rape Crisis Center (RCC) of Summit and Medina Counties, provides free, comprehensive services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, while advocating for the prevention of future violence through educational workshops in schools, corporations, and community spaces.

How and when did the non-profit get started? 

The Rape Crisis Center started as a grassroots volunteer effort in 1974 and the Battered Women’s Shelter was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1977. The culmination of decades of dedication and hard work arrived with the birth of the Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center in 2016, with official merging of RCC and BWS in 2026. 

Learn more about Hope & Healing’s history on their website.  

What are the mission and vision of the non-profit?

At Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center, we are committed to the prevention of violence through action and empowerment, and providing trauma-informed services to survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking in Medina and Summit Counties, Ohio. 

Our vision is the eradication of domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking, to foster safer and more compassionate communities.

What is your focus in now? Who do you help and why? 

Hope & Healing serves approximately 30,000 individuals each year through a combination of direct services, prevention education, and community outreach. H&H provides immediate safety through our 24/7 hotline, emergency shelter, hospital and court advocacy, as well as helps survivors achieve long-term stability, healing, and independence through individual counseling and support groups, case management and housing assistance.

Hope & Healing’s innovative Akron campus includes one of the largest emergency shelters in the State of Ohio, and together with its shelter in Medina, provides capacity to serve over 130 survivors and children, of all genders, age, ability, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, who are fleeing abusive relationships. Our shelters offer communal living, with bed spaces in private, dorm-style rooms. Amenities include three meals a day, basic clothing, laundry, and hygiene supplies, in addition to safety planning, job readiness support, and more. Because having pets is often a barrier to survivors leaving their abusers, we even have a Pet Program that allows survivors to bring their service animals, as well as a hotel placement program for those who may need to seek safety outside of our shelters.

Hospital advocates accompany survivors during forensic medical exams to provide emotional support and education on their rights as a victim of crime. Court advocates provide support for survivors as they navigate the justice system through services such as accompaniment to interviews, hearings, and assistance filing reports. Housing advocates work with landlords to provide rent assistance and ensure survivor safety after leaving shelter. We hold monthly drop-ins every second Saturday where anyone can come and receive free resources from legal aid to basic necessities.

Hope & Healing is also committed to advocating for systemic change by engaging with state legislators and policymakers. Additionally, our Prevention and Outreach teams are present throughout the community to address beliefs that contribute to violence in order to stop it before it happens.

Where is the non-profit headed? What do you hope to accomplish in the future? 

Ultimately, we hope to build a future where asking for help is easier, survivors have meaningful choices about what healing looks like for them, and our entire community understands its role in preventing violence. Hope & Healing’s future is about expanding our reach while keeping survivors at the center of everything we do. 

Hope & Healing is entering an exciting new chapter as we continue to grow from two long-standing organizations into one unified resource for survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking. Our vision for the future is simple: make sure that wherever a survivor is, help is within reach. That means continuing to provide the high-quality, trauma-informed services we have always offered while finding new ways to bring those services directly into the community. 

Hope & Healing has recently acquired a Mobile Advocacy Vehicle that brings confidential, trauma-informed advocacy directly into neighborhoods, libraries, and other partner agencies throughout Medina County. 

It is currently available for outreach events throughout the region and will eventually function as a traveling advocacy office. Learn more about the vehicle and request it at your next event.

How can people get involved? (Volunteer, donate, support, etc.) 

Visit our Internships & Volunteer Opportunities and Support Hope & Healing pages on our website. These are the easiest ways to start a volunteer application or give a financial donation.

We love having consistent individual volunteers or one-day group volunteer events like cleaning, beautification, making healing kits, administrative work, and sorting donations. We are so thankful for any volunteer that comes our way!

Is there anything else you would like to include? 

Please let us know if you would like a presentation, talk, or panel at your student organization meeting, church group, classroom, or business meeting, about consent, active bystander intervention, rape culture, signs of abusive relationships, healthy relationships and boundaries, self care, and more!

Helping individuals to explore their boundaries and find their voices is an important part of what we do. For many participants, our presentation is the first time they have been given the chance to be able to discuss these issues. We always encourage critical thinking and questions.

Follow Hope and Healing Survivor Resource Center on social media

If you’d like a non-profit you’re involved with to be featured on the Everyday Akron blog, please reach out.

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  1. Pingback: Meet Ray Whin (Creator of Everyday Akron) – Everyday Akron

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