By Jeff Morganteen, Staff Writer

STAMFORD -  There is no sign for the Sexual Assault Crisis and Education Center outside its Canal Street offices. Climb a few flights of stairs, though, and a small piece of white paper attached to a blue door appears with "SACEC" in an outlined font. It is the only sign the nonprofit agency operates nearby.

Inside, five counselors and educators work odd hours to help victims of sexual assault. The absence of a sign outside the offices keeps victims from feeling perceived societal shame associated with asking for help at a sexual assault crisis center, its directors say.

Founded in 1979, the SACEC now fights a two-pronged attack against sexual assault. It operates a counseling center and 24-hour hotline for victims, and it leads community outreach efforts and education sessions in schools to inform the public about sexual assault and to offer clients, whom counselors call "survivors," the chance to come forward anonymously.

The programs are designed to battle the social stigma attached to sexual assault. They also are the programs in danger of being cut because of a decrease in donations and a massive deficit in the state budget.

While the SACEC finds itself in the same rut as many other nonprofit agencies, private corporations and municipal governments, its situation is unique. Sexual assault is a taboo issue in good economic times and bad.

With its outreach efforts - from face-to-face meetings with community leaders to posting fliers on bulletin boards - in jeopardy, the center runs the risk of becoming overshadowed in the competitive arena of Fairfield Country nonprofit agencies, where social ills such as homelessness, hunger and unemployment trump the hushed secrecy and quiet shame of sexual assault and its victims.

"We've always run this place by the skin of our teeth," SACEC Executive Director Cathy Malloy said. "It's just not an issue, even in good times, that people are running to give money to."

The money

Fairfield County is a target destination for many nonprofit agencies because of its wealth, Malloy said. New Canaan, Darien and Greenwich are among the wealthiest residential areas in the country, while Stamford is commonly called a financial hub and is home to corporations such as Pitney Bowes, RBS and UBS.

These days, businesses are more discerning about how much they donate and which charities they support, Malloy said.

"Years and years ago, it was philanthropy for philanthropy's sake," Malloy said. "It was giving money to the community because they felt very invested. Now the shareholders are saying, 'Why are we giving money to them? How is this affecting our bottom line?' "

The center has no endowment and receives $131,666 in state and federal funding, usually accounting for one-third of its budget, said SACEC Director of Operations Kari Pesavento.

Another third usually comes from private and corporate donations, she said.

The rest of its revenue used to come from the United Way of Western Connecticut, but that agency is experiencing a decline in donations, Pesavento said.

This summer, the center lost more than $7,600 in funding when the money was withdrawn from the crisis center by Malloy's husband, Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy.

The funds came from the mayor's 2006 gubernatorial campaign and, because his wife ran the crisis center, were instead donated to the United Way.

State and federal money, though, isn't enough to offset rising insurance costs and decreasing donations, Cathy Malloy said.

It is unclear how much state money it will receive this year because of the deficit, she said.

Budget gaps caused by reduced donations resulted in the center trimming staff from 13 to seven full-time employees to handle sexual assault education and counseling in eight cities and towns in lower Fairfield County.

"The first thing to go is outreach, because all of the staff are on the front lines, seeing clients, doing education," Pesavento said. "It's kind of that out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality."

The center has not cut services or programs yet, directors said, but it needs to raise more than $200,000 within the next six to nine months to stay open.

That means mailing appeals and possibly hosting a fundraising event, which would dip even more into the center's savings.

In 2007, the center ran an $80,000 deficit but stayed afloat using investments, Malloy said.

The center remained operational this year by "bleeding their reserves to service the community," said John DosReis, an accountant that serves as board treasurer for the SACEC.

DosReis said the center began seeing a stark drop in contributions last winter. April and May are typically the strongest months for donations to the center, because April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, he said, but the money stopped coming in.

"We're not in a Hail-Mary-pass, close-your-door stage," Malloy said. "We're in a pure, 100 percent, bunker- mentality stage right now."

The services

With two educators, three counselors and two directors, the SACEC provides free and anonymous short-term counseling; a 24-hour hot line; advocates for victims at police stations and hospitals; legal advice and education sessions to all grade levels at local schools.

It also holds seminars on Internet predators and sexual assault at college campuses.

Services are stretched, but crisis center directors said no victims have been turned away. This year, the center saw 259 new clients, 40 more than last year, despite a drop in educators and outreach efforts, Pesavento said.

"It's one of those things that's hard to pinpoint," Pesavento said of the increase in clients. "It's unusual with less outreach to get more clients. Those are people that are finding us on their own."

Megan Murphy, a 23-year-old educator, began working at the SACEC after graduating from Northeastern University in Boston.

She majored in social work there and sent her resume to every nonprofit she could find after her last semester.

The past year has been hectic, she said. Murphy has worked with 5-year-olds and police officers, and all ages in between.

The demand for education sessions from schools have not decreased, so Murphy often jets across the county from teaching a kindergarten class in Greenwich to a high school in Wilton in the same day, she said.

Murphy stays alert for uncomfortable students while conducting classroom sessions.

Disclosures, or when a sexual assault victim breaks his or her silence to teachers or counselors, are not uncommon after the session, she said.

"We open that door," Murphy said. "They talk to the teacher, or they talk to their parents."

The center has no funds to replace its volunteer coordinator and its clinical director, and Murphy is one of two educators at the center.

Amid the talk of finances and flailing economies, sexual assaults at college campuses are rising, the ever-increasing dangers of Internet predators loom, and victims keep calling the center for help.

"We make it work," Murphy said. "We have to."

The life cycle

Nonprofit agencies typically have an evolutionary life span born from a simple notion, said John Brothers, a senior fellow at the Support Center for Nonprofit Management in New York City. The idea takes hold and programs form. This is called the "growth stage," Brothers said.

Once established and operational, nonprofits enter the "maintain stage," a period that can last from seven to 30 years, during which the agency expands and sometimes readjusts its focus.

"Also during that time, organizations begin to forget about why they started, and that's where the downward cycle starts," Brothers said. "Programs grow stale."

In the downward cycle, the agencies collapse or make hard choices, Brothers said.

Some turn themselves around and recreate their mission, and others merge with a like-minded organization, he said.

The current economic climate has shortened the maintain stage so more agencies enter the downward cycle much sooner than they would in more stable environments, Brothers said.

The SACEC's issues with potentially stigmatized clients presents an obstacle in hard times that other nonprofit groups don't have to overcome, he said.

"During tough economic times and the holiday season, it's really the poverty-related groups that are helped the most," Brothers said.

Malloy said her agency is not in a turnaround stage nor considering merging with a similar agency.

The goal is to stay open during this fiscal year, then re-evaluate its structure when the financial outlook brightens, she said.

Victims of sexual assault need their own voice and their own crisis center, Malloy said. "A lot of stuff would fall through the cracks if someone would take us over," she said.

- Staff Writer Jeff Morganteen can be reached at jeff.morganteen@scni.com or at 964-2215.

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