will help the victim survivors we counsel in our Sexual Assault Center

Michele Groy is a courageous young woman who asked us to share her very personal experience to give others hope who have been through a similar ordeal, that they too can turn their lives around.

She is a 35-year-old victim survivor of sexual assault who used the YW’s free professional counseling and support services to help come to terms with the trauma that tore her life apart.

Michele grew up with high moral standards, determined to keep her virginity until she married.  But after her boyfriend raped her when she was 18, her value system gradually disappeared.  She entered into a series of progressively abusive relationships with drug addicts and alcoholics, and in her own words became addicted herself to men, smoking marijuana, drinking and hard drugs. 

She says, “It really got out of control and I hurt a lot of people in the process.”  But most of all she hurt herself.

Michele says the counseling she received at YWCA Lancaster’s Sexual Assault Center came at a crucial point in her recovery.   Having rejected her dependency on drugs and abusive relationships with men, she was helped to deal with her underlying sexual trauma. 

 “I started to love myself and take care of myself,” Michele says.  “Before I met (my YW counselor) I didn’t know where to go.  I was lost.  Now I’m not.  It’s amazing.” 

YWCA Counseling & Empowerment Services Director Lisa White says Michele’s story is not unusual, “Very often the victim of a sexual assault will resort to drugs and alcohol as coping mechanisms, which then become a way of life covering the deep rooted pain.”

True to our Mission, YWCA Lancaster helped empower this woman to get her life back on track.

Michele is just one of thousands of women and children in need who have been empowered by our services.

Will you please help us help them by supporting our Annual Campaign and contributing a Gift of Empowerment securely via PayPal (no account is required!) with your credit card by clicking a button below:

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You can also donate over the phone at 717-393-1735 or by mailing a check to:

Annual Campaign for Women & Children
YWCA Lancaster
110 N. Lime Street
Lancaster, PA 17602

YWCA Lancaster is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supported through generous contributions from individuals like you.