CLOSURE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 5, 2025

A Message from BRAVE Bay Area: Honoring Our Legacy as We Announce Our Closure

It is with profound gratitude and reflection that we announce BRAVE Bay Area (formerly Bay Area Women Against Rape) will be concluding our operations on September 30, 2025, after more than 54 years of service to survivors of gender-based violence in Alameda County and beyond.

Founded in 1971 as the nation’s first rape crisis center and renamed to BRAVE Bay Area in 2024, our organization has been a cornerstone of survivor support, advocacy, and education in our community. Throughout these decades, we have been honored to walk alongside thousands of survivors during some of their most vulnerable moments, pioneering trauma-informed care practices that have influenced organizations nationwide.

Understanding Our Transition

The barriers to diversifying our income streams, fundraising to scale, and sustaining Rape Crisis Center Service Standards have been mounting since 2015. These ongoing challenges have placed tremendous strain on our organization despite our best efforts to overcome them. The recent significant shifts in federal government priorities and funding approaches in 2025 represent the final hardship, not the first.

Since the COVID lockdown, our service capacity has steadily declined. Throughout this difficult period, we have collaborated closely with our colleagues across the county to develop achievable plans to resume and sustain high-quality, comprehensive 24/7 services and re-engage local funders. Despite these extensive collaborative efforts, the challenges have continued to mount, and we have relied on our partners for support longer than anticipated.

While Rape Crisis Center funding has been threatened in the past —a fight we are familiar with— previous challenges were weathered with reserves and resources that are no longer available to us. Today’s reality is starkly different: decreased volunteer capacity, paired with necessary and long-overdue labor standards in our field, mean that we would need to double our current workforce—with 30% less funding than last year—to meet the minimum level of service that survivors deserve.

With 92% of our operating budget dependent on federal funding, these latest policy changes have created insurmountable challenges for our sustainability. After years of navigating increasingly difficult financial circumstances and extensive efforts to stabilize our operations, we made the difficult but responsible decision to wind down our services.

Passing the Torch: A Strategic Decision

We have heard from some in our community a concern that by closing, we are “giving up” or allowing a hostile political environment to “win.” We want to address this directly: Our decision is not surrender—it is a strategic realignment of resources in service of the broader movement. After a thorough and careful assessment of the landscape, we believe the most responsible path forward is to step aside and make space for stronger-resourced organizations to carry the work forward. Rather than depleting our resources in an unsustainable struggle that would ultimately compromise the quality of care for survivors, we are choosing to thoughtfully transition our services and institutional knowledge to partners who are positioned to weather these challenges.

The work of supporting survivors and ending gender-based violence is a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes, the most courageous action is recognizing when passing the torch will better serve the cause we all believe in. We remain unwavering in our commitment to survivors, and we believe this decision honors that commitment for the long term and the survivors we serve.

Our Commitment Through the Transition

From now until September 30, 2025, BRAVE Bay Area remains committed to providing high-quality services to our community:

• Through June 30, 2025: All services, including our 24/7 hotline and hospital advocacy, will continue uninterrupted
• July 1 – September 30, 2025: Services will transition to Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm operations

We are actively collaborating with trusted partner organizations to ensure every survivor in our care has access to continued support without interruption after our closure. Our team is working diligently to document and share our methodologies, training materials, and institutional knowledge to preserve the wisdom and approaches we’ve developed over five decades.

Honoring Our Legacy Together

This transition is not an ending—it is a tribute to what we’ve built together and a commitment to ensuring that the seeds planted at BRAVE Bay Area continue to take root in new and powerful ways.

In the coming months, we will host opportunities for community reflection and celebration of our shared accomplishments. We invite you to join us in honoring the impact of our collective work and the enduring legacy that will continue through our partners, our practices, and the survivors who have found their voices through our support.

If you are a former volunteer and/or current supporter, we hope you will join us in preserving the powerful community impact of the organization. Please leave a message with our main office at 510-430-1298 or email info@bawar.org to be included in community calls to celebrate the house that Bay Area Women Against Rape built.

With Deepest Gratitude

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to our dedicated staff, volunteers, board members, funders, and community partners who have made our work possible. Above all, we honor the courage and resilience of the survivors who have trusted us with their stories and healing journeys.

The ripples of our collective work will continue long after our doors close, and we are profoundly grateful to have been part of this important movement for survivor justice and healing.

For immediate support, our crisis hotline remains available at 510-800-4247. All services are provided in both English and Spanish.

With enduring commitment to survivor healing and justice,

Leah Kimble-Price, LMFT
Executive Director
BRAVE Bay Area

Karen Schoonmaker
Board Chair
BRAVE Bay Area