The Next Chapter: The Rowan Center

Impact Fairfield County’s mission is to give transformational grants to nonprofits.

In 2017 when we awarded The Rowan Center $100,000 to build a program that would train trauma-informed nurses at local hospitals, we never could have imagined just how transformational our gift would be.

The Rowan Center received funding to develop a program that provided  SAFE (sexual assault forensic examiner)  nurses to Stamford, Greenwich, and Norwalk hospitals. These nurses were trauma-informed and specifically trained on how to collect forensic evidence (rape kits) on victims who had been sexually assaulted and who presented themselves for medical care at one of these three Fairfield County hospitals.

At the time, SAFE  nurses were only being trained in-person, at the CT State Office of Victim Services (OVS) in Wethersfield, CT – located over an hour from lower Fairfield County. The training also took multiple days to complete. Because of the extended distance and time, nurses in lower Fairfield County were less likely to have completed this important training.

Seeing this gap, The Rowan Center applied to Impact FFC for a grant to train Fairfield County nurses through a combination of virtual and local on-site training. The Rowan Center was thrilled to be able to train many SAFE nurses. During this time, OVS updated and expanded its training program due to the critical need of having more trauma-informed SAFE nurses throughout the state, and in 2019 the state legislature reconfirmed OVS as the sole provider of this important training. OVS re-committed to training within Fairfield County hospitals. By expanding their reach, OVS now offers training in hospitals across the state. Today, most Connecticut hospitals have dedicated SAFE nurses on staff.

While the path to impact was different than anticipated, with training now provided by OVS statewide (instead of the Rowan Center in Fairfield County), the outcome was more transformational than anyone could have hoped. As a result of Impact’s funding, The Rowan Center’s innovative program, and the State of CT’s focus on this issue, nurses across all Connecticut counties are receiving this essential training and more victims are receiving the care they so desperately deserve.