Pathways for Change, Inc.

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Pathways for Change, Inc. Providing quality & multicultural services to those whose lives have been impacted by Sexual Violence

CONTENT WARNING: This page contains content about sexual violence that may be triggering

Our Vision is:
🔹That each survivor has access to culturally appropriate services.

🔹 That communities are actively engaged in prevention.

🔹 That systems be well coordinated and survivor-centered.

🔹 That survivors lead all aspects of the community response to sexual violence. As a freestanding rape crisis center, the efforts of the entire agency are focused on the issues related to sexual violence. Our sole commitment to these issues results in a deep and widespread impact throughout Central Massachusetts.

FLOURISHING THIS FALL | TIP 1 OF 5Start with the basics.Recent news about sexual violence can bring up difficult feeling...
10/14/2026

FLOURISHING THIS FALL | TIP 1 OF 5
Start with the basics.

Recent news about sexual violence can bring up difficult feelings and memories, whether something happened days… or many years ago. Add the demands of everyday life, and even ordinary tasks can feel overwhelming.

Survivors sometimes tell us how much they appreciate simple reminders: Have you eaten today? Had some water? Gotten enough rest? Written down something important so you don't have to keep remembering it?

These aren't small things when you're carrying a lot.

Trauma can affect sleep, concentration, appetite, and energy. Paying attention to your body's needs is one way to support yourself through stressful times.

Before asking more of yourself, check in with the basics. You don't have to manage everything at once.

And if talking with someone would help, Pathways for Change is here to listen, 24/7.

24/7 Hotline: 800-870-5905
24/7 VP Hotline (Deaf & Hard of Hearing callers): 508-502-7681

The Cornell case is a reminder that survivors may find themselves navigating several systems after sexual violence.Campu...
10/12/2026

The Cornell case is a reminder that survivors may find themselves navigating several systems after sexual violence.

Campus resources can provide important support and may be able to help with things like safety, housing, academics, and other needs within the university.

Off-campus confidential resources offer something different: a place to ask questions, understand your options, receive trauma-informed support, and confidentially think through what you want to do next.

In Central Massachusetts, Pathways for Change provides free, confidential survivor support, including support available 24/7: 800-870-5905

The Victim Rights Law Center provides free legal services to sexual assault survivors in Massachusetts who want to understand their rights and options on and off campus: 617-399-6720

You can use one, the other, or both.

Getting information doesn't commit you to a particular next step. Decisions are still yours to make.

Yesterday's We Are All Jane Doe: Stand Out for Justice brought community members and leaders together with a powerful me...
10/09/2026

Yesterday's We Are All Jane Doe: Stand Out for Justice brought community members and leaders together with a powerful message: Survivors deserve to be heard, supported, and believed. Accountability matters.

Thank you to everyone who stood with us, including (left to right) Kim Dawkins of Pathways for Change, Senator Robyn Kennedy, David LeBoeuf, State Representative, Paul DePalo Governor’s Councilor and Deborah Hall, CEO of YWCA Central Massachusetts.

Our voices are stronger together. And we are not done speaking up!

We’re still in the Red Zone—the period of the fall semester when the risk of college sexual assault is particularly high...
10/08/2026

We’re still in the Red Zone—the period of the fall semester when the risk of college sexual assault is particularly high.

And that risk isn’t experienced equally. Research shows that college students with disabilities experience sexual violence at higher rates than students without disabilities.

Yet sexual violence prevention efforts have not always been designed with students with disabilities in mind. When prevention information, programs, and conversations aren’t accessible or inclusive, some students can be left out of the very efforts intended to make campus communities safer.

Effective prevention has to include everyone.

That means making information about consent and sexual violence accessible. It means considering different communication and access needs when planning programs and events. And it means making sure students with disabilities are included in conversations about prevention—not simply identified as being at greater risk.

A safer campus is one where every student can access information, participate in prevention, and know where to turn for support.

Pathways for Change is HERE 24/7.

24 Hour Support Hotline: 800-870-5905
24/7/365 Statewide VP Hotline for Deaf and HoH callers: 508-502-7681

10/07/2026

Join us tomorrow at 3:30 at the Worcester Wall of Women. Bring a sign, bring your voice, and stand with us!

The sexual assault allegations involving a former Cornell University student have put a national spotlight on alcohol, i...
10/07/2026

The sexual assault allegations involving a former Cornell University student have put a national spotlight on alcohol, intoxication and consent as well as on higher education institutions that are failing student survivors and not holding perpetrators accountable.

We have something to say about that and believe our community members do as well. We invite you to join us - the YWCA Central Massachusetts and Pathways for Change, Inc. on Thursday, October 8, at 3:30 p.m. at the Worcester Wall of Women (intersection of Francis J. McGrath Boulevard and Franklin Street) for a short “We Are All Jane Doe: Standout for Justice,” gathering in support of survivors of sexual violence and a call for justice and accountability.

Participants are encouraged to bring a sign with a message of support, solidarity, and justice for survivors. Survivors deserve to be heard, believed, and supported.

Stand with survivors. Stand for justice. We Are All Jane Doe.

We hope to see you there!

The Cornell case raises an important question: What happens after a survivor reports sexual violence?The survivor report...
10/07/2026

The Cornell case raises an important question: What happens after a survivor reports sexual violence?

The survivor reported to campus police in 2024 and said she was “100% confident” she had been r**ed. The local District Attorney now says he did not see the transcript of that interview before deciding not to prosecute. The investigation has since been reopened.

That matters beyond this case.

Reporting asks survivors to put deeply personal information into the hands of systems and people who make decisions about what happens next—including decisions survivors themselves do not control.

When we ask why survivors don't report, we also need to examine what happens when they do.

If we want survivors to trust systems enough to report, those systems must be worthy of that trust.

Whether or not a survivor reports, they deserve support, information, and choices.

Pathways for Change is here 24/7.

What if the person you need to stop is someone you know?That question feels especially important in the Cornell case. Re...
10/06/2026

What if the person you need to stop is someone you know?

That question feels especially important in the Cornell case. Reporting indicates that messages about what was happening were shared among fraternity members and that others entered the room before two people eventually came in and “shut it down.” CBS News

Taking action can be hard—especially when friends or peers are involved, but remember it doesn't have to mean confronting someone directly. Call for help. Ask someone else to step in. Check in. Do something.

We also have a role in creating communities where people feel able to speak up—and where others take them seriously when they do.

Be brave enough to act. Care enough to listen. Make it easier for others to do the same.

That's sexual violence prevention in action.

The sexual assault allegations involving a former Cornell University student have put a national spotlight on alcohol, i...
10/02/2026

The sexual assault allegations involving a former Cornell University student have put a national spotlight on alcohol, intoxication, and consent—and on a gap in New York law.

Here in Massachusetts, the law is different. A person does not have to be unconscious to be incapable of consenting because of alcohol or other substances. The question is whether they were so impaired that they were unable to give or refuse consent, and whether the other person knew or reasonably should have known that.

But this conversation is about more than the law.

We want students—and everyone in our communities—to have the awareness, confidence, skills, and resources to help keep themselves and one another safe. Knowing about risk, looking out for friends, intervening when something doesn't seem right, and understanding consent all matter.

And that is not the same as responsibility.

Too often, when alcohol and sexual violence intersect, the questions focus on the person who was harmed: How much did they drink? Were they safe? What could they have done differently?

We need to turn some of those questions around.

Alcohol or other substances do not excuse sexually aggressive or unsafe behavior. Someone else's drinking does not cause a person to sexually assault them.

We can help people recognize and navigate risk. We can look out for one another. And we can be clear that responsibility for sexual violence belongs with the person who causes the harm.

As this case continues to unfold, Pathways for Change will be sharing more about some of the larger questions it raises about prevention, reporting, accountability, and the systems survivors encounter.

24/7 Hotline: 800-870-5905
24/7 VP Hotline for Deaf and Hard of Hearing callers: 508-502-7681

Statement from Kim Dawkins, CEO of Pathways for ChangeThe findings released by the Massachusetts Attorney General docume...
10/01/2026

Statement from Kim Dawkins, CEO of Pathways for Change

The findings released by the Massachusetts Attorney General documenting decades of child sexual abuse and institutional failures within the Worcester, Springfield, and Fall River dioceses are painful to read. Behind the numbers are hundreds of people who experienced sexual abuse as children and have lived with its impact.

For us at Pathways, this report hits especially close to home. Worcester is one of the dioceses named, and we know that some of the people reading these findings are our neighbors, friends, family members, and members of the communities we serve.

For survivors in our Central Massachusetts communities, this report may be much more than a news story. It may bring back memories or feelings connected to something that happened years or even decades ago. For some, it may bring validation. For others, anger, grief, or questions. And some survivors may choose not to engage with this news at all. There is no right way to respond.

We also know that many survivors do not disclose sexual abuse until years after it occurs. Silence does not mean that the abuse did not matter, and the passage of time does not diminish a survivor's need or right to support.

This report is also a reminder that preventing sexual violence cannot rest on individuals alone. Institutions have a responsibility to take disclosures seriously, act to protect people from further harm, and create environments where people can safely come forward. Our communities share a responsibility to listen to survivors and ensure that the systems intended to protect people are accountable when they fail.

At Pathways for Change, we want survivors to know that you do not have to decide what to do next before reaching out. You do not have to report to law enforcement, pursue legal action, confront an institution, or even have words for everything you are feeling.

You can simply call.

Pathways is here to listen, confidentially and without judgment, today and whenever you need us.

24/7 Hotline: 800-870-5905
24/7 VP Hotline for Deaf and Hard of Hearing callers: 508-502-7681

— Kim Dawkins, CEO
Pathways for Change

Address

588 Main Street
Worcester, MA
01608

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+15088527600

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