Ocala – Marion County once again has a dedicated resource for survivors of sexual assault.
The Marion County Sexual Assault Center opened its doors earlier this month.
Co-founders, Racheal Franklin and Liz White gave a tour of the new location, a small office building at the corner of SW 1st Ave. and SW 12th St. in Ocala.
“We want this place to be somewhere, that if you’ve been a victim of sexual assault, you can come here and talk to someone,” Franklin said, making her way around the circular building. The offices, interview, and exam rooms offer a calming and therapeutic setting.
“I’ve been working with victims for over 24 years, I’m a victim myself, so I know first hand that they need a place to go where they can get those services immediately.”
Franklin and White both work at the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
“If we have a high quality services here in Marion County, I think survivors will be more likely to cooperate in the criminal justice process,” White said. “And therefore we will have higher success with prosecuting sexually violent offenders.”
The two were nominated for the News 6 Getting Results Award by coworker, Kathy Lacorte.
“I wanted to recognize my coworkers,” Lacorte said. “I’ve watched them promote and try to get this project off the ground. I’ve seen how much work they’ve put in to make this happen.”
Franklin and White created a nonprofit and asked the community for their support.
“It’s just amazing to see the community come together for this,” Franklin said “This could not have been done without the whole community. I’m so proud to be a member of Marion County. They’ve given so much.”
Marion County has been without a dedicated sexual assault center since last summer when Creative Services, Inc., an Ocala-based not-for-profit, closed its operations.
Community Action Stops Abuse (CASA) a certified domestic violence center based in Pinellas County, stepped in to temporarily take over services. CASA Marion then became the official certified domestic violence center for Marion County in January, 2024.
“Compared to the rest of the state, we have a really big problem here,” White said. “Something we’ve run into in embarking on this project is, speaking with leaders in our community, they didn’t realize how big of a problem this was in Marion County.”
The Florida Department of Health says Marion County is averaging about two dozen sexual assault cases per 100,000 residents. That’s more than double the statewide average.
That data is only based on arrests meaning there may be even more unsolved or unreported cases.
“I get emotional because of how far they’ve come,” Lacorte said. “I know how much they work full time, plus they’re doing this to raise awareness in our community, raising money. So I’m just so proud of them.”
For now, the center is being operated by Haven of Lake & Sumter until the board can hire a director and staff.
“We still have a long way to go,” White said, “But just sitting here in this building and having an exam room here in Marion County that’s clean, that’s safe, that’s inviting, it feels really good.”
The Marion County Sexual Assault Center has a 24/7 crisis hotline: (352) 633-5563