Our Mission
How We Started
We are a passionate group of experts and advocates who believe individuals who have experienced sexual assault, abuse, or harassment deserve to know their rights and options. Our team combines professional expertise with deep empathy to ensure survivors feel supported, informed, and empowered to take the next steps in their healing and justice journeys.
How We Can Help
At Helping Survivors, we provide comprehensive assistance to individuals who have experienced sexual harm. To date, we’ve helped over 1,200 sexual assault survivors find the resources and legal support they deserve to aid in their healing process. Whether offering resources, explaining legal rights, or supporting emotional healing, our mission is to empower survivors at every step.
Provide Resources & Support
When an individual experiences sexual harm, they often do not label the experience, tell anyone, or seek outside assistance until much later. This happens for a variety of reasons — but survivors deserve support whether the harm happened yesterday or fifty years ago.
Helping Survivors connects individuals with relevant resources, including counseling services, hotlines, and community organizations. These connections are designed to create a supportive network for survivors as they navigate their next steps. Our database of trusted resources is constantly updated to ensure survivors can access the most current and reliable information.
Understand Rights & Options
Most survivors don’t understand their rights and options. This can mean reporting to law enforcement, filing a civil lawsuit, reporting someone to a professional board, and more. We provide connections and resources to help people find justice and accountability.
Understanding the full scope of legal and personal options can feel overwhelming. That’s where Helping Survivors steps in. From explaining the legal processes involved in civil cases to outlining how to report incidents to professional boards, we aim to demystify survivors’ choices and connect them to trusted experts. Our goal is to empower survivors to make informed decisions about pursuing justice and accountability in a way that aligns with their personal goals.
Helping Survivors Heal
Each individual’s experience is different — and so are their healing journeys. We want to help provide transparent information about survivor options to help individuals take the next step in their journey.
Healing is a deeply personal process, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. By providing information about therapeutic options, self-care strategies, and survivor-led support groups, Helping Survivors helps individuals begin or continue their healing journeys in a way that works for them. We also collaborate with trauma-informed professionals to offer additional resources that prioritize emotional well-being and recovery.
Featured Law Firm Partner
Helping Survivors works with a variety of organizations, including law firms. These law firms help us craft helpful content and provide information to survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment to understand their legal rights and options.
Helping Survivors collaborates with Meirowitz & Wasserberg, LLP, a law firm dedicated to advocating for victims of wrongdoing. Known for their expertise in handling cases involving sexual abuse and assault, Meirowitz & Wasserberg provide survivors with access to experienced legal professionals who are committed to seeking justice.
If you reach out to Helping Survivors, a representative from a law firm may contact you directly in regards to filing a civil case if they believe they may be able to represent you. The firm’s compassionate and client-focused approach ensures survivors feel supported throughout the legal process. They stand as advocates for those whose voices have been silenced, ensuring accountability and striving for meaningful results.
Melissa Ryan Reitberg
Melissa Ryan Reitberg is an experienced sexual assault attorney at Meirowitz & Wasserberg. Her compassionate, detail-oriented approach ensures survivors feel supported throughout the legal process. Melissa and her team are dedicated advocates for survivors of sexual assault, with extensive experience helping individuals take legal action in cases of institutionalized abuse. Their expertise includes representing survivors in:
- Uber/Lyft sexual assault
- Sexual assaults and abuse by a doctor
- Sexual assault and abuse by members of religious organizations
- Children and teens abused in schools, juvenile detention centers, foster care, and youth programs
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