Rockland Celebrates Opening Of New Facility To Help Victims Of Abuse, Sex Crimes

Rockland County celebrated the opening of a special new facility Wednesday on the grounds of Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, where the Spirit of Rockland Special Victims Center is already helping local victims of abuse and sex crimes.

Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said the late-afternoon ribbon cutting ceremony was more than the routine opening of a new government office. He said the ceremony marked the completion of a dream that has been more than a decade in the making and shows how local non-profits, labor unions, business and government can come together to solve problems and help some of Rockland's most vulnerable crime victims.

"I really see the opening of the Spirit of Rockland Special Victims Center as the highlight of my professional career," said Zugibe.

The Spirit of Rockland Special Victims Center combines, under one roof, all of the services need to investigate abuse and sex crimes along with all of the special services available to help victims of those crimes. The center uses an old administrative building next door to the Emergency Department of Good Samaritan Hospital for the center.

The building is leased to Rockland County at no cost by the hospital, and the building was redesigned, renovated, furnished and equipped by donations and volunteer labor supplied by local businesses and trade unions in Rockland County.