More than a year since taking out a $35,000 loan to meet payroll in the absence of federal funds, Charleston’s Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Service (SACIS) continues to face turbulence as the agency’s struggle to make ends meet has grown and gained interest.?Bonnie Buckley, the SACIS executive director, said the agency, which operates on a reimbursement basis, has never experienced a financial snag of comparable scale as the staff waits for state legislators to distribute vital funds.

“We’ve gone five months this (school) year without any funding whatsoever from the state,” Buckley said. “We’re just squeaking by month-to-month. It’s been really hard on the staff they work all month, not knowing if they’ll get a paycheck, and that’s not right.”

The staff relies largely on funds granted by the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA), a not-for-profit organization that also aids 32 other crisis centers and 16 satellite locations statewide.

Spreading a limited amount of money across agencies has become more difficult for human resource providers like ICASA in the aftermath of Gov. Pat Quinn’s policies to balance the state budget.?Last June, Quinn cut general revenue funds that ICASA previously distributed to its crisis center network, dissolving a projected 68 percent of the state finances that support SACIS.?This has accounted for 40 percent of the service’s total funding, which is generally used to execute advocacy, counseling, prevention education and management, Buckley said.

While financial relief is stalled, SACIS has consistently encountered problems paying employees’ salaries, covering telephone costs, or paying rent to the university.

As Buckley said most of the federal stimulus grants that SACIS receives are not large enough to pay the salary of even one full-time employee, she has experienced pressure to piece together separate grants to pay the staff trained to aid people of all ages throughout Coles and Cumberland counties.

In order to meet payroll for the month of September, Buckley loaned the agency $35,000 from the life insurance allotment she received when her husband passed away.

This is the third loan SACIS has sought out to compensate for the frozen cash flow, including the service’s original October 2009 loan, in addition to the subsequent $40,000 borrowed in the spring.

Buckley is responsible for managing payments on these loans every three months, which generate $600-$800 in interest alone. To date, the service still owes $60,000 in loans.

In past years, Buckley said SACIS thrived off two-month advances that ensured the agency would secure enough funds to continue operation. Last year, however, reimbursements were reduced to one-month advances, and now the staff does not receive any financial support on a regular basis at all.

Before funds were finally allocated to SACIS this month, the staff had weathered a five-month drought devoid of finances since the beginning of July. Now, Buckley said no one, including the state coalition, is quite sure when relief will come again.?Despite the prospect of an uncertain future, the staff has managed to persevere by budgeting strategically and collecting portions of their paychecks through multiple minor grants, which they also depend on to pay the bills.

“We just can’t do what we used to do,” Buckley said. “We’re not able to do as many programs on campus, and the more programs you do, the more people come out for help.”

The staff has also experienced a consolidation of positions over the past few years, placing a sizable workload on the shoulders of a few employees who have been prompted to institute a client waitlist.

Though hindered by a shortage of funds, SACIS foresees no shortage of patients.?Last year, the service, which runs a 24-hour crisis hotline, assisted 723 victims of various forms of sexual assault that would have had to seek care elsewhere had a lack of funding impeded operation.?The need for such a service has been exemplified in statistics published on ICASA’s online fact sheet that pertain to adult survivors of childhood abuse.?The numbers indicate a possibility that sexual abuse is more widespread than commonly thought, indicating that one in three girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18, roughly totaling 1.8 million adolescent victims nationwide today.?Those who have suffered rape are considered 13 times more likely than a non-victim of rape to have attempted suicide, and 10.1 times as likely to have used hard drugs other than cocaine. ?Nearly one-third of these victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder, and the numbers continue to climb as victims come forward.?Despite the prospect of inflating demand for fluctuating compensation, Buckley said the staff continues to work and services are not affected, though stress stemming from a worry over whether or not SACIS will receive funds is present.

“When it’s gotten really right down to the wire, we’ve had to tell clients we don’t know if we’ll stay open,” Buckley said. “It’s stressful for everyone. I’ve spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying. It’s the first and last thing I think of everyday.”

Erica Whelan can be reached at 581-7942 or elwhelan@eiu.edu