Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center is pausing services indefinitely amid state budget impasse. It’s a ‘colossal loss.’

Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center will lay off employees as a result of Harrisburg lawmakers’ failure to pass a state budget, disrupting the center’s crucial and free services, the Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence announced Monday. The center was formerly known as Women Organized Against Rape (WOAR).

Joanne Strauss, president of WOAR’s board of directors, said in a statement Monday that largely due to the state budget impasse, the organization’s ability to offer services, like crisis response, therapy, or advocacy, has been “severely impacted.”

“These services are vital to the well-being of our most vulnerable populations, and the decision to reduce our staff has been incredibly difficult,” Strauss said. “We understand the hardship this will cause, particularly for those who rely on us day in and day out.”

Strauss said that clients won’t be able to access its 24-7 crisis hotline, medical and court advocacy services, therapy offerings, and prevention and educational programs. The organization is optimistic it can resume these services once funding becomes available.

WOAR employees who spoke with The Inquirer Monday are devastated by the upcoming layoffs, which they say will begin Tuesday. They’re also concerned by the gap in services the layoffs will create for clients.

The employees said their last day, should they be laid off, will be Friday.

“It is just such a colossal loss for this entire city, for it to go down this way is very painful,” said Carolyn Goode, a crisis and court advocate at WOAR. “I think we were all expecting to be here for a long time, and none of us want to leave.”

Founded in 1971, WOAR was one of the first rape crisis centers in the United States, according to the organization.

As of Monday, WOAR has received 1,775 hotline calls, a total of 2,325 new clients, and reached 7,306 school and community members through their prevention and education work in 2025, according to data provided to The Inquirer.

But Pennsylvania legislators are over three months late in passing a state budget, and so WOAR and other rape crisis centers across the commonwealth are suffering. House Democrats and Senate Republicans have made little headway in budget negotiations as the standoff stretches into the fall with no clear resolution ahead.

Rape crisis centers, including WOAR, get funding from the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR), which receives funds from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

“Funding for the Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence and rape crisis centers across the Commonwealth can only happen if State Senate Republicans stop playing politics by purposefully prolonging this process and come back to work, find agreement with the State House, and send a budget to the Governor’s desk,” said Brandon Cwalina, a DHS spokesperson.

PCAR hopes that emergency funding from the state, which the organization applied for through the state treasury’s loan program, will be enough to slow the layoffs at WOAR, Lukima said, but even so there will be an “immediate and long-term impact” on survivors.

“Services provided by rape crisis centers are vital to supporting survivors during a critical time in their lives,” said Joyce Lukima, coalition director and chief operating officer at PCAR.

Survivors who call the WOAR hotline will be told that beginning Friday, their calls will be rerouted to the crisis line at Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), a national organization. The change will disrupt the continuity and familiarity survivors had with WOAR’s services.

“If they do call this number — which they may have been calling for years — it’s not going to be the usual people answering, and it’s not going to be a fairly local organization providing the support,” said Isabelle Beatus, a crisis and court advocate at WOAR.

Beatus and a handful of other advocates work all hours of the day operating the hotline, referring clients to services and being a friendly and comforting voice to survivors who have experienced a traumatic event.

Other times, they accompany survivors as they receive forensic rape exams at the Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center on Hunting Park Avenue or provide support to survivors who seek justice in court.

The work is crucial and relentless and employees told The Inquirer how passionate they are about their jobs. The layoffs are heartbreaking to the people who have dedicated their careers to combating sexual violence.

“We’re all in shock, and I think everybody’s first thoughts — and where our hearts are now — is the with the clients," Beatus said.

Many clients want to stay on WOAR’s waitlist in case the center returns, Beatus said, noting that even when funding is eventually restored services would not be restored immediately.

Other next steps remain unclear to employees, including how many people will be laid off. Employees were only notified of the fate of the organization last Tuesday at a staff meeting.

During the meeting, staff got “very fatalistic responses” without many details from leadership, according to a WOAR employee, who asked to speak anonymously because of privacy concerns.

“There’s still a lot of confusion among employees as to how everything happened and what the future of WOAR looks like,” the employee said.

Rape crisis centers across the commonwealth, led by the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR), are pushing lawmakers to understand the impact that the budget impasse will have on survivors.

PCAR has been calling for an $8 million increase for the Rape Crisis line item in DHS’s budget. An advocacy information sheet obtained by The Inquirer says that rape crisis centers in Pennsylvania have not received a funding increase in more than five years.

Commitment to supporting WOAR’s efforts has stretched across Philadelphia, from City Hall to college campuses.

“The layoffs at WOAR are a devastating blow to survivors and a critical loss for our city. For more than 50 years, WOAR has been a lifeline for survivors — we cannot allow that lifeline to fray,” said Councilmember Nina Ahmad.

“This news is devastating. I’ve worked with WOAR in several capacities over the years and I’ve seen how vital their work is to survivors of sexual violence in Philadelphia. Their counseling, support network, and hotline serve as a lifeline to people in times of crisis,” said Councilmember Rue Landau, noting that the budget impasse will “cost more than jobs, it will threaten lives.”

Georgia Michaels, cofounding president of SECRET, Drexel University’s student-led sexual education group, and a former intern at WOAR, said her group is working to rally students at Drexel and other Philadelphia college campuses to advocate for a speedy passage of the state budget.

And at WOAR, employees want lawmakers to know: “We’re not just numbers,” said Alex Miller, an intake coordinator at WOAR.

“We’re real people. We’re real organizations that provide integral, life-changing services to a large population that doesn’t have other options,” Miller said.

Strauss, the board of directors president, said in her statement that “survivors and staff alike now bear the burden of political inaction” and said that WOAR wants to work with “all parties involved” to find a solution.

“Every day without services is a day that survivors are left unsupported and staff are left searching for certainty about their futures,” Strauss said. “The need has not ceased. Healing cannot wait. Survivors deserve better, and team members deserve security.”