Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center to Celebrate 30 Years of Helping Survivors Move ‘From Here to Healing’

The weekend before Halloween may be filled with sewing costumes, baking treats for school parties and runs to the grocery store to stock up on goodies for trick-or-treaters, but this year, try and take an evening off to have some good old fashion adult fun while supporting a worthy cause for your community!  Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, Lake County’s only rape crisis center, is humbled and honored to be celebrating their 30th anniversary this year with a not-to-be-missed Gala at Briarwood Country Club in Deerfield that will include live and silent auctions, dinner, dancing, and more.

In addition to commemorating 30 years of excellence in prevention, advocacy, and support of survivors of sexual assault and abuse, Stephanie Garrity, ZCenter’s Director of Development & Stewardship states that “we are excited to welcome 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist in Women’s Judo, Kayla Harrison, as our guest speaker.”   Throughout her competitive success, Kayla masked an unimaginable personal struggle: at the age of 16, she revealed the fact that she had been sexually abused for years by her coach.  Through discipline, tenacity, and the support of others she fought through the pain both on and off the mat, transforming herself into a strong, confident, articulate woman in addition to a world-class athlete.

Garrity goes on to say that, “Kayla’s story of abuse by a trusted adult, her healing journey and ultimately her triumph on an international stage should serve as inspiration for everyone, perhaps especially survivors of sexual abuse and assault.”

Additionally, Ms. Garrity spoke to the importance of ZCenter’s 30-year milestone: “To know our agency’s history of humble beginnings as a group of people who wanted to address this issue for northeastern Illinois in the early 80’s, to a storefront space in which staff had traffic patterns through other’s offices in the early 90’s, to our amazing, healing space with so many wonderful opportunities on the horizon is mind boggling.  To have seen our impact and efficiency increase over the past few years gives me confidence that our role in the healing of sexual assault and abuse survivors will only continue to grow!”

ZCenter’s Executive Director, Amy Junge, reflected the same hope to continue to support survivors of sexual assault and abuse and affect change in our community: “This anniversary celebration is twofold:  reliving our successes of the past 30 years, and planning our journey for the next 30 years! We are excited about the many new projects on our horizon, while still providing the excellent service to survivors of sexual assault and abuse that has been the hallmark of three decades of success for ZCenter.”

ZCenter has seen immense growth and continuously evolved over the course of their 30 years and they cannot wait to celebrate three decades of strides toward ending sexual assault and abuse.  To purchase a seat, corporate table, raffle tickets (no need to be in attendance to win!), or donate an item to the auctions, please contact Stephanie Garrity at sgarrity@zcenter.org/(847)-244-1187 x 123 or Jamie Roberts at jroberts@zcenter.org/ (847) 244-1187 x 137.