There's a growing need for resources for domestic and sexual assault victims, and one nonprofit has a way to treat them, no matter where they are.
Since the fall, the Nevada Institute of Forensic Nursing has been using a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Mobile Unit.
The unit may look like a regular trailer a family may take out camping, but it serves an entirely different purpose.
The team is staffed with a sexual assault nurse, an advocate, and a forensic interviewer.
They can perform exams, interviews and advocacy for both kids and adults, and there's no catch. It's all free.
"A lot of the services are either in Washoe County or Clark County and so we're able to hopefully have more people report because we can go to them versus them having to travel," said Cyndy Milligan-Lusk, Co-Founder of Nevada Institute of Forensic Nursing.
"So, we want to bring that specialized care to the victim," said Norah Lusk, Co-Founder of Nevada Institute of Forensic Nursing. "The last thing they need to be worried is how they're going to get to and from this horrible exam that is about to be one of the scariest things they ever go through, and we want to break that barrier for them."
They're hoping to have a big impact.
"The impact I'm hoping is that it is... the one and only call they have to make," Lusk said.
Getting this project off the ground was no easy feat.
"At first it was my sister-in-law and I and we just, I worked full time in the emergency department to fund the startup and now we're going like gangbusters," Lusk said.
Both Lusk and Milligan-Lusk said getting around the $80,000 in funding was an uphill battle.
"Funding has been a huge issue," Milligan-Lusk said. "We have been thankful that we had a donor from a foundation that got the first unit for us and that's how we were able to get this going. "
However, they'll still need some help to keep this ship afloat.
"So, I'm hoping that the grants and the foundation money will keep coming in because that will keep us on the road," Lusk said.
Lusk says she has been wanting to do this type of work since she started nursing school because she knows the stress it can put on victims.
"Sexual assault exams can be pretty scary, and being an emergency room setting is not always the best place to be and we just kind of went from there and I got my master's degree in forensic nursing and here we are," Lusk said.
Victims can reach out to law enforcement first if they would like to report, but if they don't want to, they will still be there to care for them.
"We take all the evidence and collections, and we secure it, so if later on down the line they want to report, we have all the kits and stuff and then we can turn it over to law enforcement," Milligan-Lusk said.
The team says they didn't want to put markings on the trailer so that it blends in, and victims can receive their services in peace.
If you are victim and would like to reach out for help, their website is below.
