ODESSA -The Odessa Rape Crisis Center, known as The Crisis Center, has been providing services in the community since 1981. Executive Director Karen Hildebrand announced the official, board-approved changing of its name to the Crisis Center of West Texas (CCWTX) on Friday. The agency continues to grow and expand its reach in domestic and sexual violence prevention programs and services it offers to Odessa and eight outlying counties in West Texas. This expansion includes opening the new Lilah Smith Safe House in Fort Stockton and fundraising for the new Louise Wood Angel House that will replace the current shelter in Odessa to offer victims a better respite from violence.
With this evolution in mind, The Crisis Center has decided to officially unveil its new logo – a house with an open door surrounded by an accepting heart. The colors of teal and purple still correspond with the awareness months of sexual assault and domestic violence to display the agency’s unwavering solidarity with victims and our pledge to support them.
Effective changes include the rebranding of the website, social media accounts and email addresses. The domain for the Crisis Center of West Texas is https://www.ccwtx.org/. Facebook and Instagram accounts of CCWTX can both be followed @CCWestTexas. The previous domain at www.odessacrisiscenter.org is still active and will re-direct to the new domain. Old emails ending in @odessacrisiscenter.org will also be forwarded to recipients @ccwtx.org.
The Crisis Center of West Texas’ mission remains to respond, shelter and educate to end domestic and sexual violence in West Texas. It has experts trained to provide services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Its prevention team, along with its reStart Batterers Intervention & Prevention program take the initiative at combating sexual and domestic violence.
From June through July there were three murders in which reports of family or intimate partner violence had been made against the person charged. Experts at the Crisis Center of West Texas are available for advice or commentary. Community services managers are available for businesses or schools to provide training on trauma informed care, domestic violence, sexual assault, healthy relationships, teen dating violence and for elementary students, We Help Ourselves(WHO).
The original vision is still intact. CCWTX embraces the belief that all individuals should have equal access to political, legal, economic and civil rights. We strive to create a community that embraces diversity, recognizes oppression, promotes empowerment and supports the right of all individuals to self-determination. We eagerly work for the day when domestic sexual violence is part of history rather than a part of our daily lives.