Let it Out! Media Campaign Launches
Posted 6/13/2011 3:10pm
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center Launches First-ever Media Campaign
“Let it Out” Campaign Aims to Increase Calls to Rape Crisis and Support Hotline
The moment she decided to call Cleveland Rape Crisis Center for the first time, she felt like “a balloon that was ready to pop,” said a survivor of child sexual abuse. Although she survived abuse from age three into her teenage years, it wasn’t until she aged into her 50s that she decided to call for help.
This survivor’s story – and those of dozens of other sexual assault survivors – inspired Cleveland Rape Crisis Center first-ever mass media campaign designed to encourage more sexual assault survivors to call its 24-hour crisis and support hotline (216-619-6192). The campaign theme “Let it Out” was developed by current and former clients at the Center.
Starting this week, billboards, kiosks and interior and exterior bus ads in downtown and east-side Cleveland neighborhoods will feature Cleveland Rape Crisis Center advertisements with the message “Let it Out!” and the Center’s 24-hour rape crisis and support hotline number 216-619-6192. This is the first time in its 37-year history that the Center has launched a mass media campaign.
“The timing for this campaign is perfect,” said Megan O’Bryan, CEO of the Center. “There are more than 150,000 people in Cuyahoga County who have survived sexual violence and never sought healing services. We want each of them to know that Cleveland Rape Crisis Center is a place for her or him to find help and healing.”
About 3,000 people each year call the Center’s hotline. Most calls are from adults who experienced their assault many years or even decades ago. Some calls are from professionals, such as teachers, guidance counselors or social service providers, who have questions. Only a fraction of the calls are from people in immediate crisis.
“Any person who has experienced sexual assault and has questions, anxiety, flashbacks, is seeking resources or just needs someone to talk to can call the hotline. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you have been or how long ago you were hurt, there is always someone available to answer your call,” added O’Bryan.
The Center has resisted major media campaigns in the past because demand for services was so great that many callers were put on a waiting list before they could begin therapy. Recent federal grants allowed the Center to increase professional staff and eliminate the waiting list last summer.
“For almost a decade, we had to be careful about how we promoted the hotline. We could only handle so many calls,” said O’Bryan. “Now we are in a position to extend our services to more people and this campaign will help us do that.”
The rape crisis and support hotline is answered by approximately 100 volunteers. Each volunteer completes 40 hours of training before answering their first call.
Local marketing firm, thunder::tech, helped the Center develop and design the campaign after gathering input from clients through a survey and several focus groups.
The campaign is funded by a “Make it Stick” grant from the Saint Luke’s Foundation. The “Make it Stick” grant program was designed to help nonprofits tell their story. Cleveland Rape Crisis Center was one of ten nonprofits selected from more than 160 applications for this project.
“The goal of this campaign is to make the phone ring, explained O’Bryan. “When the phone rings, we know people who may have lived in silence for a long time are able to let out some of their pain.”
About Cleveland Rape Crisis Center
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, founded in 1974, supports survivors, promotes healing and prevention and creates social change. More than 18,000 people were impacted by the Center’s programs and services in 2010. For more information, call the 24-hour hotline at 216-619-6192 or the Center’s business line at 216-619-6194 or visit www.clevelandrapecrisis.org.
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Contact:
Sondra Miller
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center
216-619-6194 x 114 (office)
