Sexual Assault Center closing in Clarksville, program moving to Matthew Walker Clinic

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Clarksville Sexual Assault Center (SAC) will permanently close its doors on Oct. 31 due to funding issues.

But there are plans for the Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center to partner with SAC to provide similar services for sexual assault victims and survivors.

“We are working on a plan to figure out how these services can continue in the Clarksville community because it is so important,” said Rachel Freeman, president and CEO of the Sexual Assault Center in Nashville. “We are in the preliminary stages of partnering through Matthew Walker. We are excited to say we hope the services will still be offered in Clarksville in just a different way.”

The center, now located at 1725 Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, opened in Clarksville in 1991 but was forced to close due to budget cuts in 2010. With the help of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Health Foundation, the local United Way, and the Clarksville community, the center re-opened its doors in November 2015.

Five years later, Freeman said they didn’t think they’d be facing the same predicament, recently losing a large grant that provided $200,000, about half their funding costs. Even with fundraising, it couldn’t make up for the grant loss.

“When we reopened five years ago, we thought we had developed a plan that would help us be sustainable. We created a different plan, diversified our funding sources, and as a nonprofit we became dependent on grants and fundraising,” Freeman said.

“We’ve consistently seen funding drop over the years and not increase. It’s a terrible position to be in. It breaks my heart it’s the decision we had to make, but it’s the right business decision in this particular time that we are in right now. As far as our mission goes and wanting to make sure sexual assault survivors and victims get the help we need, it’s the last thing we want to do.”

Growing need

Freeman said what makes the decision  heartbreaking is there’s a growing need for services.

When SAC reopened in 2015, they had one therapist and one community outreach person who served about 90 people.

In the last five years, they’ve served over 700 sexual assault victims and survivors and maintained a waiting list for people still needing services. The SAC also partnered with Austin Peay State University to provide internships and training for master’s level students going into the career field.

“Sexual assault and rape are happening in Clarksville,” Freeman said. “There are survivors of childhood sexual assault and sexual assault victims who need these services. There’s a need and it continues to grow. That’s why it’s so important that we develop these partnerships so when victims need help, they can get it.”

New partnership

The Matthew Walker Clinic, located at 230 Dover Road, provides primary medical care, behavioral health services, dental care and health education to approximately 17,000 people annually in Nashville, Clarksville and Smyrna.

Their behavioral health services include individual, couples and family therapy focused on areas such as depression, anxiety, relationships, anger management, grief and loss, communication/conflict, divorce recovery, sexual issues, co-dependency, substance abuse, treatment and stress management.

The Matthew Walker Clinic is an expert in confidentiality and HIPPA regulations and they are hoping to transition two SAC employees to the MWC. They are still in the beginning stages, Freeman said.

“I am confident there will be a new version of our services in the community. We will stay connected with Matthew Walker and help them as they do these services,” Freeman said. “Matthew Walker provides unbelievable services. We will help in any way possible to make it a smooth transition. We are closing one chapter and opening another. Matthew Walker is doing this because it’s important and needed. I’m extremely grateful that they have the ability to do it.”

If you are a sexual assault survivor or victim and need assistance please call their 24/7 Crisis & Support Line: 1-800-879-1999. For more information on the Sexual Assault Center visit their website at https://sacenter.org/.