creating hope, healing lives, changing community
The Family Advocacy Center (FAC) empowers, educates, and counsels adult victims in Henderson County with legal and court room advocacy. Professionals from different disciplines work together to provide consolidated and coordinated safety, legal, social, and health services to individuals and families in need. Our FAC also is a resource for community outreach and education throughout Henderson County.
- Advocates empower, educate and counsel survivors through emotional support within medical, court, child welfare and other systems of care.
- Survivor Advocacy for hearings
- Filing restraining orders or protection orders
- Safety planning
- Talking to law enforcement
- Legal professionals assisting with legal questions and issues
- Case management support with referrals to resources in the community
Located at:
317 N Washington St
Hendersonville, NC
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In 2022, we started working towards building North Carolina's second 24/7 community-based sexual assault forensic examination center. Forensic examination with a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) is available at no cost to survivors and does not require reporting with law enforcement.
- Serves any gender survivor aged 18 years and older assaulted within the past 5 days (120 hours) without injuries that require medical attention.
- 24/7 on call scheduling care.
- Survivors of interpersonal violence (i. e. domestic violence and sexual assault) access support services with a trained Safelight advocate. Advocates can link in law enforcement at survivor's request.
- Expert Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) does forensic evidence collection in a private, confidential, and safe location onsite at Safelight.
- Process includes obtaining consent for examination, client interview, examination and forensic evidence collection that can be used to prosecute abusers, discharge/follow up.
Leigh Anne came to the FAC seeking a protection order and assistance with criminal charges against her husband. We connected her with Pisgah Legal Services, accompanied her to interviews with law enforcement and multiple court dates, and were there with her when her protection order was granted.
Once the order expired, she attempted to co-parent with her estranged husband for about two years, until he was arrested again for abusing her. Her advocate assisted her with re-connecting with Pisgah Legal Services, obtaining a protection order, and taking out multiple protection order violations with the magistrate office. After the third report of violations, her advocate coordinated with Hendersonville Police Department on securing Leigh Anne's abusers' arrest.
Leigh Anne has remained very brave throughout these difficult times, and has displayed inspiring resilience, strength, and hope.
The Phoenix Project is a collaboration between The Free Clinics and Safelight, as well as other organizations in our community. The Phoenix Project offers comprehensive, integrated, holistic healthcare to very vulnerable persons that is trauma-informed, ACES*-informed, and resiliency-focused. Together, we are creating a model of care for programs around the country to implement within their own contexts in the future.
(*ACES refers to Adverse Childhood Experiences, which can traumatize children and have lasting impacts throughout a person’s entire life.)
Together with the support of staff at TFC and Safelight, as well as other local resources, The Phoenix Project supports and promotes the health and well-being of the most vulnerable members of our community, specifically survivors of interpersonal violence, survivors of sexual assault, survivors of human trafficking, and those with significant mental health and/or substance misuse concerns.
For more information about the Phoenix Project, please call 828-697-8422.
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