Avalon Healing Center opens for sexual assault survivors in Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Michigan is ranked second in the country in sexual assaults - but now there are more resources for survivors.

The Avalon Healing Center is opening a new facility on Bagley Street in the heart of downtown Detroit.

"Sexual assault is not a woman’s issue, it is a human issue," said Trinea Gonczar.

Every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted according to RAINN — Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network.

"We’re really trying to take the onus of - after a victimization, having to navigate all the different systems, criminal justice system, housing needs, financial assistance, basic needs and bring them all into one space," said Kimberly Hurst, founder of Avalon Healing Center.

There is also a large focus on emotional healing.

"We’ve been working with survivors for 16 years and have listened to what survivors need and what survivors do to heal," said Trinea Gonczar.

Gonczar is not only a staff member at Avalon - she, too, is a sexual assault survivor. She was one of hundreds of women sexually abused by former sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar.

"Sexual assault was something that was so taboo and it wasn’t discussed," she said.

A huge advocate for sexual assault victims, Trinea says she found help at Avalon when she first acknowledged she had been victimized.

"The way that Avalon Healing Center supported me was in ways I didn’t now that i needed, I didn’t know were possible," she said. "And I certainly couldn’t have afforded it had I  been doing it on my own. And I know there is someone else out there that really needs that support as well."

For more information about Avalon in Detroit go HERE.

Trinea Gonczar, a sexual assault survivor of Larry Nassar and employee of Avalon Healing Center.