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Nonprofit Spotlight
Nonprofit Spotlight
The Center for Abused Persons (CAP) is a professional mental health counseling agency that serves Charles County. The agency is dedicated to reducing the prevalence and incidence of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by providing treatment and supportive services to people regardless of age, gender, and type of abuse.
The nonprofit provides services to child and adult victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and assault, as well as the families of victims. Clients receive intervention counseling to help them cope with immediate trauma and treatment plans are developed based on each client's individual needs.
The comprehensive services offered by CAP include a 24-hour crisis hotline, counseling, victim advocacy, an abuse intervention program, and community education. Each year, the organization's staff serves more than 500 victims with a history of domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse. The staff also makes roughly 3,000 telephone contacts each year.
The nonprofit originated as the Charles County Sexual Assault Center in 1983. Until 1994, the organization was known as the Community Crisis & Referral Center. The name Center for Abused Persons was chosen to more accurately reflect the work performed by the staff. Over the past 40 years, services have expanded from being available to adult victims of sexual assault to including child victims of physical and sexual abuse, as well as victims and abusers in domestic violence situations. The agency also became responsible for providing telephone crisis intervention for all those in need in Charles County.
The importance and power of CAP's work is reflected in the experiences of its clients. During its history, the nonprofit drastically changed many lives for the better. This is evident in the stories of a few clients.
According to one client, their therapist, Patricia, was a huge blessing in their life. Patricia helped the client overcome one of their biggest issues, which was accepting their mother's death. Before attending CAP's counseling sessions, the client never thought that they would be able to accept the situation. Over four months, the client made many years' worth of progress; they gained a lot of confidence in themselves and realized how resilient they actually were. The client stated that Patricia was a great therapist and that they were forever grateful for her help.
Another client described how they initially felt skeptical about CAP's services and wanted to avoid the reality of their situation. However, during the next six months, the nonprofit's staff helped them break out of that shell. The staff's help made the client realize that they had support from people who understood them. The client said that CAP's help has improved their mental and emotional well-being. They became able to accept their past, flaws, and future. They also embraced their inherent worth as a person. The client said that their therapist, Sherry Mistry, was amazing and that they were very grateful for having Sherry in their life. They said that Sherry was a great listener, provided honest feedback, reserved judgment, and was passionate about her work. With each weekly counseling session, the client saw and felt positive differences in themselves.
A third client stated how they did not know what to expect from CAP's counseling services at first. They had low expectations since they had a negative experience with their previous therapist. Their perspective changed when they started attending counseling sessions with their new therapist, Sherry. Sherry took the time to discuss the client's feelings and background so she would know what to do during future sessions. With their therapist's help, the client became able to identify, understand, and deal with their emotions. The client said that they felt excited about attending their counseling sessions since they provided a comfortable, non-judgmental, and supportive space. The counseling sessions allowed the client to work through their emotions, express themselves to others, and give themselves grace.
The nonprofit collects donations through PayPal, checks, intermediaries, and its annual holiday giving program. Corporations and community groups can fundraise on CAP's behalf in a variety of ways, and CAP also collects used cell phones for intimate partner violence victim use. The organization always has volunteer opportunities available, which include working with the crisis hotline, hospital outreach, and teenage volunteer positions. Additionally, CAP is always hiring new employees.
For more information, visit the nonprofit's website or social media accounts. The organization can be found on X (Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.
The information used in this article was collected from Hannah Bordon, the community outreach specialist of CAP, and the nonprofit's website.
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