Spike is honorary chair of benefit Golf Tournament for For Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes

Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes has been growing and evolving since 1981 to address the changing needs of victims of sexual assault and abuse. On the threshold of its 35th anniversary, the First Annual Golf Tournament to benefit Safe Harbors will be held May 11 at Lakeside Country Club, Penn Yan.

Yates County Sheriff Ronald G. Spike will be the honorary chair of the Golf Tournament.

Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes Inc., began in 1981 when the service was being formed as an advocacy and support network for victims of sexual assault/abuse in Yates County.

The organization was formed by several individuals in the community who recognized that there was a need to serve victims of sexual assault. Those founding individuals came from law enforcement, prosecution, and women’s health. At its beginning it was called Yates County Rape Crisis Service. Initially, the organization functioned under the umbrella of the Rushville Health Center Inc.

Volunteer Advocates were trained, a hotline was established, and service to victims started in 1982. Awareness and prevention education programs were a natural outgrowth of victim services. School presentations were started to teach children about Personal Body Safety. From the beginning, child victims were being served.

In 1986, organizations in the community requested that the service begin accepting calls from victims of domestic violence, so training about battering was included for Volunteer Advocate staff.

The name was changed to Rape & Abuse Crisis Service of the Yates Community in 1987. The service began to receive calls related to sexual harassment, starting in 1991. A teen dating violence prevention component was added in 1994, and an enhanced teen date rape prevention component in 1996. Late in 1997 the domestic violence services were greatly expanded by the addition of a client support and training staff position.

In 1999 the existing Seneca and Ontario County program was merged into the service.That program had also been serving sexual assault/abuse victims since the early 1980’s. In Seneca County, the program started as the Seneca Crisis Center Inc. In Ontario County, the program started as part of Planned Parenthood of the Finger Lakes Inc. With the joining of staffs, the service was able to share the combined knowledge, skills and strengths, which included: bilingual advocacy, long-term therapy, non-residential domestic violence service, prevention education curriculum, and sexual assault forensic examinations.

In 2002, the Rape & Abuse Crisis Service of the Finger Lakes Inc., became a not-for-profit organization in its own right. This change was made to assure that the services provided to victims would be uninterrupted if, in the future, changes in the health care industry presented a threat in any way to the integrity of the program, as, since 1982, RACSFL had functioned under the umbrella of the Rushville Health Center, Inc. An additional impetus to becoming a separate incorporated organization was the fact that RHC had recently experienced turnover in the top administrative positions several times.

The final part of the past history came in 2009 when the name of the organization was changed to Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes Inc.

For details about Safe Harbors and about the May 11 golf tournament, visit www.safeharborsfl.org.