Testimonials

Clients

"You and your staff were very helpful and supportive. Thank you so much. MESA is an incredible group and provides a very necessary and important service. Thank you for all that you have done. "

"I really felt you cared when I got your call after the hospital visit. I got my questions answered. I also got the applications for victim’s compensation. You were great! I felt that someone cared and wanted me to get the help that I needed."

"I don’t remember the names of the counselors who met me at the hospital. I felt so alone and they were there – finally someone was on my side."

Volunteers

"Though we discuss a lot of things that are going wrong with the world, PBJ is all about finding ways to make them right. It gives me hope."
- Peer Educator

"PBJ has taught me how to use my voice to create change in the world – by giving me a vocabulary, by providing resources and by giving me a community of support. I always had a voice, PBJ gave me a microphone."
– Peer Educator

"Being a hotline counselor may not always feel good, or like you made a difference, but just knowing that people are calling, are outreaching for some kind of support, is what keeps me coming back. I also work with a great supportive consisting of MESA staff and volunteers. I feel that it is hard and emotional work to be a sexual assault hotline counselor, but there is an unfortunate need for it and as long as I have support, which I do, and exercise, I am glad to help those in need. Helping others it not only about feeling good when you help someone, but it is also about making a difference, even if it is a small one. I believe life is about taking small steps to eventually reach your goals and make a difference in the world. "
– Hotline Counselor

From Presentations

Following a gender separate presentation on sexual assault at a local school, a young woman reported an instance of sexual assault to a school staff member. The young woman had reported the incident the year prior to school officials and received little support, and no formal report was made. Following the MESA presentation, this young woman was able to regain the sense of safety and trust needed to make the disclosure again. The staff member she spoke with took the allegations seriously and reported to the police. Subsequent investigation found that the male student who the young woman had identified as her perpetrator had committed other crimes of sexual violence. The presentation provided intentional space for this, and other, young women, to talk about and report cases of sexual violence. Because of the atmosphere created, the student was able to make reports that were taken seriously, and a young perpetrator is being held accountable for his actions.

Comments from 8th Grade boys after a MESA Men’s Education Program. The day following the presentation the teacher asked the students to write down what they had learned:

• I will treat women better
• I will be a better bystander
  
• No one will get raped on my watch
  
• Howard Stern is not a good role model for how to treat women – women like respectful men