This is for you with pain in your eyes. Years ago, I stood where you stand.

I wrote those words way back in 1987 when I was managing editor of a Connecticut newspaper and a volunteer rape crisis counselor.

I remember it was in the spring because I had just announced I was leaving the job to head to England. Sometime during the three months’ notice I had given my employer, I stopped at the local grocery and almost immediately was approached by a young woman who said: “Oh my God. I’ve been looking for you. I was raped.”

She was the young woman who accompanied her friend to the police department months before because the friend had been raped. I was the counselor on call.

They were so young.

I did my best.

But, boy, did I feel helpless.

When someone is in the kind of pain that goes with that level of violence, mostly what you can do is be with them. Nothing you say will erase the experience. It rings in your head as an enduring wound.

I knew that through experience.

So there she was, this young woman who needed me.

Nothing I could do would remove the wound, but I did what I could.

I stood by her.

Over and over when she needed to talk, I stood.

Sometimes I stood when she simply needed someone standing with her so she wouldn’t be alone.

Fast forward to now.

On April 3, a fundraising campaign will begin for the Domestic and Sexual Assault Outreach Center which serves 20 counties in Iowa, including Hamilton. It is the annual Cake Auction, so-named because before Covid every item that was auctioned off was accompanied by a cake. It was a sweet party, let me tell you.

There is despair in being a victim; with its Cake Auction, DSAOC mastered the creation of a good time to temporarily buffer the pain.

Of course, Covid changed that and the Cake Auction is now online. I hope you will check it out or consider donating. Here is the link: https://cakeauction2025.givesmart.com.

DSAOC shelters people who are fleeing the violence in their homes. It gives housing to people who might not survive a return to their domestic conditions. Through its shelter for victims in Fort Dodge, it provides respite for the people of those 20 counties I mentioned. Its Homicide and Other Violent Crimes program supports victims and secondary victims by being there, whether it’s as a knowledgeable presence in court or through ongoing emotional guidance.

Through DSAOC, there are many remarkable qualities quietly being shared every day by remarkable people. I am in awe of the staff who do this work constantly.

Of the many experiences in my life, being the president of DSAOC’s board of directors is at the top. I am so blessed to know the people who do crucial work for the wounded.

Yes, this is for you with pain in your eyes.

Years ago, I stood where you stand.

I am still standing.

But, this time, there’s a powerful bunch of big hearts standing with me.

Jane Curtis is editor of the Daily Freeman-Journal. She is an Iowa Newspaper Association Master Columnist.