August 26, 1999

Welcome to the first update from Communities Against Rape and Abuse (CARA), a new organization formed by former volunteers of Seattle Rape Relief. You've been with us along the way and we want to keep you updated on our progress, and invite you into the process.

We have a lot of exciting news. You may have seen the recent article in The Seattle Times published Friday, August 20.

Since Seattle Rape Relief announced its closure, we have held numerous meetings and consulted with many dedicated and talented people. Out of those meetings came the decision to start a new agency that would fill some of the gaps that SRR's closure leaves behind. But we're not just going to duplicate what SRR did. We're taking a fresh perspective by looking at the needs we know about in our communities and considering what it really means to be a social change agency. We want to begin offering services, in the form of outreach, education, and peer support groups, as soon as possible.

And we've found some incredible support along the way. We've found it in you. And we've also received it from other community agencies and potential funders. Which leads us to the most exciting news of all. We are on target to receive funding from the City of Seattle by October 1 of this year! Our primary goal to ensure funding is to find a fiscal sponsor before that October date. Our fiscal sponsor needs to be a nonprofit organization (with 501(c)3 status) that has a similar mission to CARA's. They will sponsor us until we establish our own nonprofit status.

Speaking of a mission, we have one that we are very proud of. It is:

CARA is a social change agency dedicated to empowering survivors and their communities. We work together to eradicate rape, abuse, and oppression through education and community organizing.

In addition to seeking out a fiscal sponsor, we are gathering letters of support from community agencies to include with our management plan for the City of Seattle. If you know of supportive agencies, please let us know so we can ask for their help.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. But we are very excited about our mission and the tremendous support we have received from you and others in the community.

We have weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. You are welcome to join us to hear what is happening and offer your ideas and energy. We want to hear from you. If you cannot make it to a meeting, but have input to offer, please e-mail contacts listed below and we'll bring your ideas to the meeting.

Please contact Julie Bengston or Heather McRae-Woolf for meeting location and other details. We will also continue to send you updates every other week. If you do not want this update, please write back, or call Julie or Heather.

Contact Info: