Nearly a million dollars have been awarded to Avera Health to make more sexual assault nurse examiners, or SANEs, available to survivors.
This grant was provided the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women.
SANEs are crucial employees for assisting assault or human trafficking survivors and connecting them to community support options.
This grant will place more SANEs in rural locations, increase telemedicine options, and offer more training to those already working in the field.
Communities like Sioux Falls, Yankton, Mitchell, Pierre and Aberdeen are the first to benefit from the grant, and more will be selected each year through 2026.