State grant boosts victim services for Autauga County residents

Survivors of sexual assault in Autauga County can reach One Place Family Justice Center’s 24-hour hotline at (334) 213-1227 and get immediate, confidential crisis care if the assault happened within the last 72 hours. The nonprofit also provides counseling, advocacy and case management, services that can help a survivor get through the first hours after an assault without having to navigate the system alone.

Gov. Kay Ivey awarded One Place $32,110 as part of three state grants totaling nearly $145,000 to assist victims and prosecute sexual assault cases. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs said the money will support a 24-hour hotline, case management and other victim services for people in Autauga, Butler, Crenshaw, Dallas, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery, Perry and Wilcox counties.

That makes the award important well beyond Montgomery, because Autauga County residents are part of the service area One Place reaches across central Alabama. The organization says it is the primary crisis care resource for survivors of sexual assault and rape in the region and, as the area’s only Rape Crisis and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Center, serves more than 475,000 residents across nine mostly rural counties.

The grant is designed to help keep those front-line services available. In practice, that means a hotline staffed around the clock, case managers who can connect survivors to counseling and other support, and access to advocacy when the legal or medical process starts. ADECA said the grants were administered with funds made available by the U.S. Department of Justice, and ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said the programs provide comfort and advocacy for victims and help bring offenders to justice.

One Place is not the only recipient. The Mobile County Commission received $32,710 for the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, and the Alabama Coalition Against Rape received $80,000 to train advocates, medical personnel and first responders and provide direct services statewide.

Ivey said victims of sexual assault deserve “timely and compassionate care,” a standard that lines up with how One Place describes its work. The nonprofit said it serves survivors in Autauga, Butler, Crenshaw, Dallas, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery, Perry and Wilcox counties, with services that include crisis care, counseling, advocacy and case management.

ADECA also said One Place received a $32,000 state grant in March 2024 for comprehensive services in the same nine-county area, underscoring the steady role the nonprofit plays in victim support across central Alabama.