ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (KLFY) — For over 25 years, the St. Landry Evangeline Sexual Assault Center has provided assistance, advocacy and education for victims of sexual assault. But now those services are challenged as much of the nonprofit’s grant funding is being taken away.

Tracey Antee, the Board Chair, said how federal budget cuts impacts closer to home than people realized.

” We’re starting to really see a lot of the what the trickledown effect looks like with a lot of the federal budget cuts, and things that are happening that seem far away, they’re not so far away anymore.” Antee said.

From a 24-hour hotline, to visiting victims in emergency rooms and educating adults as well as students about sexual assault prevention.

Antee said the Sexual Assault Center is primarily funded through three federal grants that help them provide these services.

“And those in the past couple of years have slowly started to get a little bit smaller.” Antee said. “And we’ve been able to bounce back and been able to address those. But right now, the largest grant that that we get has actually been decreased by 42%.”

With an over 40 percent decrease in their biggest grant funds, Antee said the center is forced to pivot and find ways to not only continue their efforts but remain sustainable before it’s too late.

“Without the sexual assault center here where we are located.’ Antee said. “There’s nothing else. There would not be the service in not just in Saint Landry and Evangeline parishes, but in the other rural parishes that touch us. We are actively looking for new board members to serve on our board. We’re always looking for donations, were equally always looking for volunteers. We really need the strength in numbers.”

To continue to provide this service for the community, Antee said she is creating a new development plan that will reintroduce the center to the public and showcase its value.

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