Blog

July 10, 2023

We are proud to introduce you to Carl Mucha, MCRCC’s PREA Outreach Manager!

Let's start off by explaining a bit about the PREA Program. MCRCC believes in supporting all survivors of sexual assault, including survivors who are incarcerated. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA, passed federally in 2003) was created to eliminate sexual abuse in confinement. In line with those principles, MCRCC’s PREA program provides emotional support in the form of letter and phone correspondence, as well as in-person visits and forensic exam accompaniment, for incarcerated survivors who have....

May 10, 2023

We are so thankful for all of our supporters who showed up to celebrate the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center’s 50th birthday at the Together with Love Dinner! 

In the 1950s and 1960s, women who were involved in the civil rights movement talked to each other about their experiences of discrimination, domestic violence, and sexual assault. These women realized more and more that what they were experiencing as individuals was actually something women were experiencing collectively in the United States and throughout the world. Women talking about their individual experiences became....

March 23, 2023

Bianca Hernandez started working at MCRCC as a bilingual Community Engagement Specialist in September of 2021. We chose to give her this spotlight because we are inspired by her versatility, energy, and enthusiasm for the work that she does at MCRCC (which consists of many different things!) Just to name a few of her regular activities, Bianca is the master behind our social media presence, she makes sure that MCRCC is visible at community events, she provides lots of client support, and she delivers an abundance of presentations about MCRCC’s services.

Bianca is from Castroville....

December 9, 2022

Dear Community,

With heavy hearts, we announce that the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center (MCRCC)’s annual Together with Love (TWL) 5/10K Run and Walk will not be taking place again in 2023. It was not an easy decision to make, and we ourselves are sad to see the TWL race go. 

A lot of careful thought and discussion led our fundraising team (made up of staff, Board Members, and community members) to the decision not to continue our beloved race, but to instead focus our efforts on planning MCRCC’s first ever fundraising dinner to support its programs. We had to....

November 30, 2022

The Monterey County Rape Crisis Center's new Salinas office is here! We held our open house on November 16, 2022 where advocates, volunteers, community partners and supporters toured our warm and inviting space. The space is located in downtown Salinas close to different agencies and resources like the courthouse and public transportation. This forever home is meant to serve survivors from all throughout Monterey County but specifically survivors in Salinas and South County. MCRCC staff is excited to share this space with our community.

“I can’t wait for folks to....

October 7, 2022

Bianca Hernandez, Community Engagement Specialist

One evening, 5 year old “Adrian” explained to his mother, Sarah, that something strange had happened to him while at his summer daycare that he attended at his next door neighbor’s home. His mother listened as Adrian recounted how at his daycare an adult made him feel uncomfortable with what he was saying and also doing to him. Sarah listened in disbelief and reported it right away to local law enforcement, since what Adrian was recounting sounded a lot like child abuse. Adrian was scared when he found out he would have to make a....

April 25, 2022

Hey, everyone, it’s great to meet you! My name is Rita A. Mora and I am the Human Trafficking Outreach Specialist for MCRCC. I’d like to introduce myself to my community. I’ve worked with the agency in different positions for almost 3 years now (since 2019). I’m a daughter of immigrants whose passion is to make ripples in my community that will, in time, become great waves of change in the world. 

In March 2021, my wonderful colleague, Deborah Pembrook, announced to us that she would be moving on from her role at MCRCC to assume a position with another wonderful....

April 8, 2022

April is our favorite month - why?

Because April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and also Child Abuse Prevention Month (CAPM). That allows us the space to involve our community with these incredibly important topics which affect so many people.

Of course, we are dedicated to raising awareness all year round, but this month it's official! We hope you will take part in a way that is meaningful to you, whether that's learning more about sexual violence and child abuse, encouraging your child to enter our art contest (below), spreading awareness about our....

January 4, 2022

Our Prevention team (clockwise from top left: Jessica Short, Lydia Turke, Nicole Irigoyen, and Diana Beltran).

Our Prevention team has been busy since school has started back in-person this fall! We hired two new educators to the team who have already been so active in our community.

Our elementary educator, Jessica, has made it to 81 different classrooms at 15 different schools in Monterey County and has talked to students about a variety of topics such as personal boundaries, mental health, internet safety, and safety at home. She has presented to nearly 1....

December 1, 2021

Get to know our Community Engagement Program Intern, Emilia!

"One of my goals is to serve my community. I was born and raised in Monterey County, and for me, it is essential to serve and be part of my community. I learned about MCRCC months before my internship selection. One of the CSUMB staff members sent out an email about an opportunity to start training with MCRCC. By then, I didn't know anything about MCRCC, and I wasn't familiar with the agency's services or programs. I started to be interested and decided to look into more about the agency. I thought it would be an....