In 2024, Riverview Center was recognized as a Wired Gives Back program recipient. Wired Production Group is a proud sponsor of the Evening of Light fundraising event for Riverview Center in Cedar Rapids. With multiple locations across Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois, Riverview Center works to focus on the goal of living in a world free of sexual and domestic violence.
What is Riverview Center?
Riverview Center is a non-profit organization providing compassionate, client-centered care for sexual and domestic violence survivors. Since 1992, Riverview Center has offered its services in 16 counties across both Iowa and Illinois. Riverview Center gives survivors access to high-quality professional services free of charge. Along with individual services, Riverview Center is committed to creating a community free of violence through education, training, and providing resources.
Each year, Riverview Center serves over 1,500 survivors of sexual and domestic violence in the Midwest. This equates to more than 21,000 hours of service provided by Riverview Center staff and volunteers. The organization is recognized as a safe space that provides free services to everyone regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race and/or ethnicity, immigration status, disability, or incarceration status.
RIVERVIEW CENTER PRESENTS “EVENING OF LIGHT”
Riverview Center hosts “Evening of Light” as an annual fundraising event in multiple cities across Eastern Iowa. “Evening of Light” is an event filled with emotion and empathy, where hundreds gather to celebrate the resiliency of sexual and domestic abuse survivors that Riverview Center serves daily. The event typically begins with a cocktail hour where auction items are showcased from local businesses, followed by dinner and a presentation of Riverview Center’s services. The evening concludes with an inspirational keynote speaker.
In 2024, “Evening of Light” featured Chanel Miller, once known as “Emily Doe,” before she read her victim impact statement at Brock Turner’s sentencing, which went viral and compelled thousands. She published her memoir, “Know My Name,” in 2019. The book encompasses her experience and learnings from trauma, healing, and resilience and also challenges cultural biases and criminal justice system failures in sexual assault cases. Shortly after Evening of Light, Miller released her first children’s book.
Riverview Center will announce their keynote speaker for their 2025 event later this year.
We are thrilled to celebrate our newfound partnership with Wired, who has generously contributed $500 in sponsorship and provided an additional $500 worth of in-kind services to amplify our organization’s impact. We are excited and deeply appreciative of Wired’s commitment to our cause and look forward to their continued support in the future.
Riverview Center’s Survivor Services
Riverview Center assists survivors with numerous services, all 100% free and confidential. These services include 24-hour crisis hotlines, legal, medical, and social service advocacy, counseling and therapy, and basic needs assistance.
Riverview Center’s care is survivor-focused. An individual’s service plan is specialized based on needs and circumstances. By providing choices, Riverview Center empowers survivors to decide how their staff and volunteers can best serve their needs on their healing journey. Advocates aid survivors through legal proceedings and medical exams and offer resources to help survivors meet their basic needs. They also provide their support by helping navigate the criminal justice system, accompanying survivors to the hospital, or finding safe housing. Everything is focused on the survivors’ short-term and long-term needs. Therapists and counselors create a treatment plan on a case-by-case basis, grounded on the needs and goals of the survivor. Riverview Center also provides these services for friends and family of the survivor.
Community Services Through Riverview Center
Along with survivor services, Riverview Center also participates in community outreach. Education and professional training are supplied to schools, businesses, faith communities, social service agencies, and law enforcement. They are informed on topics such as healthy relationships, boundaries, overcoming gender stereotypes, sexual harassment, empathy building, trauma-informed care, responding to disclosures of abuse, components of the evidence collection kit, and more.
For the last 30+ years, Riverview Center has remained committed to remaining focused on creating safe communities and staying actively involved in them. Each and every staff and volunteer’s effort towards this matters, no matter how big or small. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, Riverview Center provided communities with over 7,000 service hours, encompassing outreach presentations and educational awareness!
How to Support Riverview Center
There are a variety of ways for you to show your support for Riverview Center in both Iowa and Illinois.
- Donate: You can contribute through a donation online, by mail at 1789 Elm St. Dubuque, IA 52001, or by calling 563-557-0310.
- Volunteer: Riverview Center has several volunteer opportunities listed on their website, including:
- Crisis advocate volunteer: Help provide support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so when survivors are in crisis, Riverview Center can be there to help. Participate in trauma-response training to provide crisis counseling and information through our 24-hour hotline and respond in-person to hospitals and law enforcement centers.
- Outreach volunteer: Inform survivors about the free services available. Help us raise awareness – tabling, events, fundraising, and more.
- Program support volunteer: Help our therapists, advocates, and preventionists in and outside the office so we can redefine what’s possible for us to achieve.
- Events: To participate in events and fundraisers, check out upcoming events here. For sponsorship details, contact Kevin McCullum, foundation director, at kevin@fitzgeraldfamilyfoundation.org.
To learn more about Riverview Center, please visit their website at riverviewcenter.org.