SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The rape crisis center in Savannah opened in 1975 with only volunteers for its first seven years. Fast forward to 2022, the center is now Mary’s Place, honoring Mary McAllister who led the organization for decades.
“I never wanted anybody in this community to forget the person that really brought this agency from volunteer full staff to a full staff active for seven counties,” says current executive director Doris L. Williams.
McAllister attended the press conference and expressed an attitude of gratitude for the agency’s success through the years.
“It has been incredible to see this agency grow up,” Mary McAlister. “To become from an all-volunteer crisis line to a fully comprehensive agency serving victims and helping to prevent assaults through the years. It’s just been an amazing process.”
The new branding and name change will make for easier access for the people who need services the most.
“Cause we are not allowed to say our name fully in some of the areas that we serve,” says Williams. “At Mary’s Place we will be able to do that and now we are a public location. It’s like a reintroduction to the community because so many people don’t know all the services that we offer because of the name we had before.”
