Meet NVRDC's RISE Project and Advocacy Coordinator!
Sarah, RISE Project and Advocacy Coordinator
NVRDC is pleased to announce that Sarah Taylor is taking on a new role as the RISE Project and Advocacy Coordinator. Sarah was previously a Senior Advocate with NVRDC and will now coordinate NVRDC’s RISE Project.
The RISE Project funds six legal clinics (including NVRDC) to provide crime victims with access to legal representation to assert and seek enforcement of their rights throughout criminal justice processes, increase awareness of victims’ rights, and increase victim access to no cost legal services through an expanded body of attorneys knowledgeable about rights assertion and enforcement in criminal trial and appellate courts.
NVRDC will increase knowledge of crime victims’ rights and access to crime victims’ rights enforcement through strategic partnerships with the following 8 project partners:
MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s Community Violence Intervention Program
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Community-Based Victims Assistance Center; and
Sarah is uniquely positioned in her role as Coordinator as she will continue supporting victims of crime as a confidential advocate. She will also assist project partners in the development of referral protocols to ensure effective and efficient collaboration to collectively address the needs of underserved crime victims. Her role combining project coordination with client advocacy will ensure that the project is always aware of the challenges facing hate crime victims, surviving family members of homicide, and others impacted by crime.
“My experience with surviving family members of homicide victims has made it especially clear how crime victims' rights support can be so valuable. The family has experienced a tragic loss, and are still mourning and adjusting to life without their loved one when they are drawn into lengthy and invasive investigations and court proceedings,” said Sarah. “Advocates and attorneys can be there to support the family, assist them in understanding and asserting their rights and options, and to carry some of the burden - the paperwork of pursuing compensation, the scheduling of meetings, the requests for information and updates - allowing the family to dedicate more of their energy toward recovery while allowing them to fully participate in the justice process.”
The RISE Project will allow NVRDC to increase the number of people it supports and further our goal to provide victims with no cost, holistic, and comprehensive rights advocacy and legal services to victims of all types of in the District of Columbia.