Haven Box Provides Comfort to Local Sexual Assault Survivors

Founding Executive Director Brandie Stringer tabling at an event. Photo courtesy of Brandie Stringer / Haven Box.

Hopefully, many of you reading this have never experienced leaving the hospital in a threadbare gown following a sexual assault exam. But odds are, some have. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men nationwide have reported some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime. In Rhode Island, Women and Infants reports that one in eight women experience sexual assault. And for a long time, many of the local survivors who bravely came forward did not have much in the way of comfort or resources in the wake of their trauma. That is until Brandie Stringer, a Connecticut-native-turned-Rhode Island-based social worker, decided to do something about it. We caught up with the founder of Haven Box to learn more about the comfort service and see how we can support its mission during National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and beyond.  

What led you to start Haven Box?  

It was a combination of a lot of different things. I was working as a non-clinical sexual assault counselor at the time, and then I also had some personal trauma where my mother was sexually assaulted. So, it was bringing my worlds together and trying to make sense of all of the emotions and the stress that I had been dealing with.  

I saw there was an opportunity for me to fill a gap. In my role as a counselor, I had learned that there wasn’t adequate support and supplies available to people who were going to the hospital for an evidence collection exam after a sexual assault, and in my opinion, that’s just unacceptable. After someone’s been harmed that way, they should at least be given the bare minimum of decent clothing to go home in. Haven Box was a way for me to channel my own personal grief, but then also do something good.  

Also, I think a lot of the assumption has been that people have a support person they can call to pick them up and bring clothing, but not everyone has that in their life. I think it was something that was overlooked…. And with no ill intention, right? But it was missed for so long and so I thought to do something about it. 

When was this? 

The first comfort box given at Women & Infants Hospital in 2021. Photo courtesy of Brandie Stringer / Haven Box.

I started Haven Box informally in 2020. I started doing my own research and putting things together and doing outreach to hospitals just to see if there was any interest. Of course, I was competing with the pandemic at the time and their priority of taking care of the folks who were in the hospital with COVID — it was a very slow process to get it rolled out.  

But then in 2021, I was able to connect with Lifespan [now Brown University Health] and they were like, ‘Yes, we need this.’ They had just started the SAFE — which stands for Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners — program around the same time and [Haven Box] was a great resource for them to have along with the providers who were conducting the evidence collection exam. We partnered and they asked for the boxes to be in all of their hospitals. We’ve been providing them to Hasbro Children’s, Rhode Island Hospital, the Miriam Hospital and Newport Hospital ever since. 

Did I see you also work with local universities? 

College Care Kits made possible by 100 Women Who Care RI. Photo courtesy of Brandie Stringer / Haven Box.

Yes, we have a college care kit, which is a modified version of our hospital boxes. They go to colleges and their advocacy centers and/or medical centers. We decided to do that because we recognized that not everyone goes to the hospital for care or for an evidence collection exam, but there’s still a need for support and comfort. We wanted to provide something for the centers who are providing support to the students. 

What’s included in the comfort boxes? 

Each comfort box has gender-neutral T-shirts and sweatpants (available in sizes small to 3XL), a pair of socks, a plush blanket, an adult coloring book, coloring pencils, a journal, an aromatherapy candle, two tea bags and a small water bottle, along with a hygiene bag with some toothpaste, a toothbrush and hygiene wipes.  

A hospital comfort box. Photo courtesy of Brandie Stringer / Haven Box.

How can the community get involved?  

I have a whole list of ways. You can sponsor a comfort box for $25 or donate any amount in your name. You can purchase items from our Amazon Wish List.  You can arrange a donation drive through your employer, church, college, community center and so on. And then we have opportunities for volunteering, whether that be helping out with social media or helping to organize our storage. Very soon we may open it up to where people can help assemble the comfort boxes, as well. 

Board members tabling at URI’s 2024 production of The Vagina Monologues. Photo courtesy of Brandie Stringer / Haven Box.

And then another very simple way folks can support us is arranging the time with family and friends to create affirmation cards. We like to include handmade cards in the boxes. You can get the supplies on your own or we can provide the cards and the markers for you. Once they’re done, just get them to us and we will add them to the boxes. That’s a really fun way to give back. 

You’ve recently expanded your mission as well.  

Last April, we expanded our mission to include post-crisis support because that was another gap that I recognized. A lot of the state organizations are set up to provide crisis support, which is very much needed, but most times that goes eighteen to twenty-four months and then people transition out and are left to live their lives. But from what we know about trauma and recovery, it is a lifelong process. So, one way that we are supporting people is providing post-crisis support where we collaborate with local service providers and offer services that nurture the mind, body spirit and community connection. We’re looking at the individual holistically. We feel strongly about this because it’s a more accessible approach to healing. It offers people different creative paths to healing outside of the traditional system-based services that we know so well but not everyone wants. Not everyone can feel comfortable in those settings, or some of them are not culturally responsive. So, we’re looking at ways in which we can partner with existing businesses, organizations and service providers and seeing how we can support the individual and their preference of healing.  

What are some of the things you’ve done in that realm? 

We’ve introduced writing workshops. We’ve done some forest bathing, which involves meditative walks in nature, so like nature therapy. We’ve recently held a trauma-sensitive yoga workshop, and we’ll be doing that again probably sometime this summer. We’re looking at different ways to really encourage people and introduce people to new healing opportunities. 

Do you have anything planned for April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month? 

We [kicked] the month off with our 401Gives campaign (editor’s note: and raised more than $3,000!). We will also have a Zumba fitness series for survivors on April 12th, 19th and 26th (register here), and we will host a community education event on how to support the survivors in your life on Wednesday, April 16th (register here). We’re also planning to establish a support group with a book club spin.  

Order of comfort boxes for a RI Hospital drop off. Photo courtesy of Brandie Stringer / Haven Box.

Is there anything else you would like Rhode Islanders to know about Haven Box? 

I think we’re really trying to spread the message of the importance of supporting local organizations, especially during this time and the financial challenges that the nonprofit industry is facing. We do not receive any federal funding — our funding is through individual donations or foundation grants. So, if people really want to support survivors, then they should support us. If they want their dollars to matter, they really should be supporting the organizations during this time. We are not beholden to any of the federal changes or DEI cuts being sent out right now. We are very much committed to our mission and our values of serving all survivors regardless of their identity and we just hope that the community can support us in doing that.  

Learn more at havenbox.org.