Neighborhood Philanthropy: Family Crisis Services of Northwest MS
Oxford is host to some wonderful non-profit organizations that provide for our community in so many ways. We want to provide a glimpse of these organizations each month. Family Crisis Services has been providing services free of charge to the community for 31 years. FCS was founded as a Rape Crisis Center in October of 1992 by Georgia Nix Miller. While serving adult victims of sexual assault and violence, Georgia realized that there was also a huge need to help with the unthinkable - child sexual abuse. In the early 2000s, FCS began the process of becoming a Children's Advocacy Center and an accredited center through the National Children's Alliance.
Meredith Rawl, Assistant Director of FCS, recently shared, “Family Crisis Services helps adults and children during their most vulnerable time. A lot of people don't know about FCS, mainly because the work that we do is very confidential in nature. FCS is one of those places that you may not even know exists, until you need us, and the advocacy and support services that we provide are unmatched.”
FCS provides advocacy for adult survivors of sexual assault and/or domestic violence victims (and violent crimes) as well as court accompaniment, counseling and case management. The Children's Advocacy program works closely with law enforcement, CPS, and the District Attorney's Office. Specifically trained interviewers conduct forensic interviews with children in a child-friendly setting and manner, asking non-leading and non-suggestive questions, in order to obtain information. If the child discloses abuse, law enforcement and CPS are observing the interview and are able to hear the information at the same time. The whole purpose of this process is to avoid multiple interviews of a child because it can re-traumatize the child, having to share his/her experience. Additionally, they also provide outreach and prevention education to schools and local events in the community to help raise awareness about child abuse and child abuse prevention.
Meredith shared, “As a private non-profit, we always need financial contributions of any sort! We do accept volunteers to help with administrative type things in the office, but there is a thorough training process and background check to go along with that. We do accept donations of new or very gently loved stuffed animals, which we give to the children seen at our center.
Our next upcoming event is a fundraiser, June 17-18, 2023. We are in the process of collecting donations and raffle items for our silent auction. The event itself is the Velvet Ditch Steak Competition, which is a really neat process. If anyone wants to donate items, money, or their time volunteering, we would be happy to have the help!”
We are so grateful to Family Crisis Services of Northwest MS and its dedication to supporting, advocating and helping those in need after traumatic life experiences. As Meredith shared, “If you're a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault and feel like you're in danger, call 911 or your local police department. Our advocates can help with the process of getting an order of protection as well as helping navigate the process of healing. And, if there's any concern or question about a child's safety or unreported abuse, contact MDCPS at 800-222-8000 or https://reportabuse.mdcps.ms.gov/.”
Please consider donating or becoming more involved as a volunteer. Contact FCS at 662-234-9929 or contact them through their website here. You can also mail a donation to P.O. Box 1698 Oxford, MS 38655.
