RACINE — After losing two-thirds of its funding, a Racine nonprofit that supports victims of sexual assault and provides community education services says the community is now going without crucial resources.
BeLEAF’s funding from the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) dropped by 65%, forcing the organization to cut its staff in half. They are now left with only one therapist and a long waitlist.
Board member and volunteer advocate Scott Kinderman called the loss devastating.
“There has been a suspicion there might be an issue for a couple of years,” Kinderman said. “We did our best to plan for it. We just didn’t expect to lose $200,000.”
Co-director Samantha Sustachek is one of four employees, along with several volunteers, working to keep the nonprofit BeLEAF afloat. She has taken on additional responsibilities while seeking funding resources to address a critical shortfall.
“It’s happening to victim service providers all over the state,” Sustachek said. “We know our services are needed, so we just keep moving forward, doing what we can with the resources we have.”
Since learning in September that their VOCA funding would be significantly reduced, BeLEAF leaders have been fundraising and applying for grants. They have also relied heavily on reserve funds but remain $40,000 short.
“They’re resources that we used to be able to offer to survivors—maybe they needed to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights to escape a situation,” said board member Scott Kinderman. “There are no funds for that anymore.”
The organization recently received some good news: BeLEAF was awarded about $20,000 from Potawatomi Casino Hotel's Heart of Canal Street program.
The funding allows BeLEAF to continue its Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) program, which serves about 8,000 children in Racine County.
Through SCAN, staff visit schools to teach children what abuse is, how to recognize it, and how to get help.
“Kids need that education—they need to be able to identify abuse because a lot of times it could be happening to them, and they don’t even realize that’s what it is,” Sustachek said. “We get disclosures every year from kids after they receive one of our lessons.”
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
