A little history: The Cottage staff, interns and volunteers believe in the dignity of the individual, the ultimate right to make choices, advocacy for every person and the ability to heal. The Cottage first began as a response to a serial rapist in 1974 by a group known as the Athens Feminist. The Cottage was purely a volunteer run organization until 1985 when The Cottage, then known as Rape Crisi
s Line, gained Victims of Crime Act funding. Rape Crisis Line facilitated a 24/7 crisis hotline along with support services to adult survivors of sexual assault. In 1995, Rape Crisis Line became known as the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia and added the services of a Children’s Advocacy Center. The Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia continued to facilitate a 24/7 crisis hotline along with support services to adult survivors and added the service of forensic interviews of children and support services to child survivors of abuse and their families. In 2009, the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia was renamed The Cottage, Sexual Assault Center & Children’s Advocacy Center in an effort to be more inclusive to all the survivors served by The Cottage.
