College campuses in the Ithaca area are buzzing with the return of students for the 2026-27 school year. Excitement is in the air as they reconnect with classmates and meet new friends.
Unfortunately, for many students collegiate life comes with the threat of sexual and relationship violence. Each year, between the months of August through November, instances of sexual violence at universities in the United States increase drastically.
This season is known as the “red zone,” beginning at the start of the fall semester and lasting through Thanksgiving break. More than 50 percent of college sexual assaults happen during this time, when new students are especially vulnerable as they adjust to their new environment and social circles, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN).
Sexual violence does not cease as the “red zone” ends in December, so continued awareness is crucial. RAINN reports that more than a quarter of college undergraduate women “experience rape or sexual assault involving physical force, violence, or incapacitation.”
The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County and The Sophie Fund partner each year to create Be Safe at College, a simple flyer highlighting key resources to cultivate safer campuses, support sexual violence survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable. Upload it to your phone, pin a copy to your bulletin board, or hang up the flyeracross campus.
Information about how to find resources can feel daunting, especially if you or someone you know has experienced the immense trauma of sexual violence.
The Advocacy Center’s Campus Resource Hub (linked through the QR codes) is updated to reflect current contact information, support resources, data, and more—unique to Ithaca College, Cornell University, and Tompkins Cortland Community College.
“My hope is that students can feel empowered by both the knowledge they gain from these tools as well as confidence in the skills they already possess,” said Alex Kabat, the Campus Educator at the Advocacy Center.
“For many college students, coming to campus can be the first time they are living on their own. You deserve to have fun, enjoy new experiences, and immerse yourself into who you want to become. You also deserve safety, respect, and care. Remember: sexual violence is never a victim or survivor’s fault and support is available.”
In her role as Campus Educator, Kabat provides trauma-informed education, connection to resources, and dedication to support at each local college campus. She also provides programs, print materials, interactive tabling opportunities, and more. For any inquiries, email Alex directly: akabat@actompkins.org.
As the school year begins, college students across Tompkins County have arrived on campus equipped with a variety of unique personal experiences. Many students will live away from home for the first time. Others might be met with academic and social challenges they have never encountered before. All students deserve safety, respect, and care.
New Cornell University students pose in front of the student union
Unfortunately, this time of transformation and growth can also coincide with sexual and relationship violence. Each year, between the months of August through November, instances of sexual violence at universities in the United States increase drastically.
This period of time is known as the “red zone,” beginning at the start of the fall semester and lasting through Thanksgiving break when many students go home. More than 50 percent of college sexual assaults happen during this time, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN). Sexual violence does not cease as the “red zone” ends in December, so continuing these conversations is crucial.
The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County and The Sophie Fund partnered to create Be Safe at College, a simple flyer highlighting key resources to cultivate safer campuses, support sexual assault survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable. Pin a copy to your bulletin board, or upload it to your phone.
“I hope that the Be Safe at College flyer will be a resource for students to keep in their self-care toolkits, whether they think they will need it or not. It’s always helpful to know about support options for you and your friends because you deserve safety and compassion,” said Alex Kabat, Campus Educator at the Advocacy Center.
After graduating from Ithaca College in 2024, Kabat knew she wanted to provide support to the greater Ithaca community. Utilizing her own lived experiences as a college student, she provides trauma-informed education, connection to resources, and dedication to support at each local college campus: Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College. She also provides programs, print materials, interactive tabling opportunities, and more. For any inquiries, email Kabat directly: akabat@actompkins.org.
“Trust your gut—you know what feels best for yourself, so lean into that innate knowledge,” said Kabat. “No matter what happens, violence is never your fault and perpetrators are the ones who should be held accountable.”
Free, confidential, local support and advocacy for survivors, friends, and families around domestic or dating violence, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse.
RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and provides programs to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
Mental health leaders in Tompkins County provided information about community services during The Sophie Fund’s 9th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest on October 19.
Ithaca Free Clinic’s Norbert McCloskey briefs Cornell students about his agency’s work
Speaking at the Awards Ceremony, Norbert McCloskey, executive director of the Ithaca Free Clinic, which provides healthcare to individuals regardless of ability to pay, expressed gratitude for the support the agency receives from the community.
“I have had the honor for number of years now to work with an organization that does all that it can to make sure that people can access the healthcare that they need. We’re able to do that because all of our services are provided by community volunteers—everyone from MDs all the way down to the kind lady who comes in once a week and waters our plants,” McCloskey said.
Ithaca Free Clinic
McCloskey noted the connection between healthcare and mental health.
“Nothing really creates anxiety in the life of an individual than being ill and not being able to see a doctor, not being able to get the care that they need. Whether that care is primary family practice care, or acupuncture, or herbalism, or chiropractic, or occupational therapy, or seeing an optometrist to get the eyewear that they need in order to live a full and productive life.
“You probably wouldn’t be surprised to know that a significant number of people who come to our doors do suffer from a variety of mental health conditions. We are able to help them recognize that, and then steer them toward this vast array of organizations that we have in our community to get help that they need to live full, productive, happy, and joyful lives.”
Tiffany Bloss, executive director of the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County, said that her agency has been able to expand its services beyond its role as a local call center for the national 988 Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline.
Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County
She told the Awards Ceremony audience that SPCS now handles calls from 16 other New York State counties in addition to Tompkins County. She said her agency also launched a 24-hour “warm line” for people who are not in crisis yet need a person to talk to, as well as a 24-hour LGBTQ peer support line.
“It is so incredibly necessary. We need to have everyone talking about mental health all the time,” she said.
Bloss pointed people to SPCS’s newly redesigned website, “an incredible resource for mental health.”
“We really just want to get the word out and get people talking about mental health and suicide. Make it not a scary topic. We need to look at it like we look at our physical health,” she said.
Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force
Mental Health Association in Tompkins County
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention — Greater Central New York
National Alliance on Mental Illness — Finger Lakes
To me, the philosophy behind mental health support groups aligns with Platonic wisdom: inquiry, dialogue, and collective reasoning leads to knowledge, truth, and justice. Struggling alone can be much more difficult than sharing lived experience with peers in a mutually beneficial atmosphere, according to Melanie Little, director of Training and Peer Education at the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County.
Team members at the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County
“We have a lot to learn from each other,” said Little. “Your lived experience is expertise, and that is mutually beneficial. It’s really empowering because we can help other people.”
Peer support groups are commonly facilitated by people who themselves have lived experience with mental health conditions and are trained to assist others. They are known as certified peer specialists. Group therapy, on the other hand, is more often provided by licensed therapists with specific therapeutic interventions.
As a peer specialist, bi-weekly facilitator, and group therapy veteran, I strongly believe that group support particularly and significantly builds confidence in attendees. Knowing that others go through similar experiences confirms our struggles as real, validates that we matter, and promotes greater peace with a society that may rarely seem to understand. Peer interaction cultivates a mutual emotional safety net, enabling participants to see past the stigma, to reclaim their lives.
Group programs vary tremendously in material, style, and message. Most fit into one of several categories. Psychoeducational groups educate people about their condition, offering effective coping skills. Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy helps people to recognize patterns of thought that negatively influence emotions and behaviors. Skills development is meant to increase overall function in the world. Support groups entail people converging on similar problems, assisting each other through feedback. Interpersonal groups focus on social skills.
According to the American Psychological Association, group therapy is at least as effective as individual therapy. Cited research suggests that expanding group therapy initiatives in the US would save more than $5.6 billion, and free the schedules of about 34,500 therapists for individual therapy. The research found group therapy effective for a myriad of mental illnesses, including those marked by anxiety, depression, mood cycling, psychosis, substance abuse, and eating disorders. Robust effects on alliance and cohesion were highlighted.
Overall, group therapy is an excellent option for those who want to surpass the limits of individual therapy, or those who would stand to benefit from a peer experience. Little said that it’s particularly valuable because “we can feel so much shame, so much isolation.”
Many support group options are available in Tompkins County.
The Mental Health Association in Tompkins County offers several free group programs. Psychosocial Support, for adults with mental health challenges, promotes rehabilitation within the community, helping people forge strong bonds with peers. Peer Support/Advocacy also serves adults, consisting of casual and structured activities, both in individual and group form work. The focus is on mental health recovery, goal planning, learning skills, progress monitoring, self-help and self-advocacy, hope, and community participation. Family Peer Support Services assists the guardians of children and adolescents who have mental health challenges. Goals include empowering caregivers to make informed decisions, reducing familial stress, educating about mental health, and helping navigate child-serving systems. Emotional support, advocacy, service coordination, and recreation events are furthermore offered. The Mental Health Association also maintains a social drop-in program at its offices in Center Ithaca. Staffed by peer specialists, the program is a welcoming environment for peers to come together, converse about shared experiences, learn about resources, enjoy snacks and a hot beverage, and do collective activities like games and crafts. For more information, go to www.mhaedu.org.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Finger Lakes chapter offers a program called the NAMI Family Support Group, free peer groups for those adults who seek to help loved ones with mental illness, facilitated by people who have gone through this experience themselves. Other free peer support services offered by NAMI Finger Lakes include the Partner and Spouse Group and Psychosis Support Group. For more information, go to www.namifingerlakes.org.
Tompkins County Whole Health operates Personalized Recovery Oriented Services (PROS), a group option serving adults with “severe and persistent mental illness” including those with substance use disorders. Groups are led by peers or professional clinicians. The program seeks to provide greater quality of life, reduced hospitalization, and personal goal attainment. Some groups are discussion-based, others self-focused. PROS services include Community Rehabilitation, Intensive Rehabilitation, and Ongoing Rehabilitation and Support. Services are covered by Medicaid or otherwise are a maximum of $60 per month. For more information, go to www.tompkinscountyny.gov/health/pros.
Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca provides mental health and related social services. Groups include Caregiver Support Group, Kinship Caregivers Support Group, Grandparents Support Group, and more, depending on the time of year. Family & Children’s accepts Medicaid, Medicare, and private health insurance. It offers additional discounts based on family and income, and its services are free to those unable to pay. For more information, go to www.fcsith.org.
The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County provides support, advocacy and education for survivors, friends, and families of domestic violence, and sexual assault. Peer support services include Knowledge is Power, Survivor Empowerment Group, and Survivor Support for College Students. For more information, go to www.actompkins.org.
—By Ben Komor
Ben Komor has been a certified peer specialist for over eight years and, among other functions in the mental health realm, served as an advisor to the Tompkins County Crisis Negotiation Team. He is a graduate of Ithaca High School, and holds a BA in Human Development and an MS in Health.
Mental health leaders in Tompkins County highlighted available community services and underlined the importance of supporting the well-being of mental health workers during the 8th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest.
Kayla and Michelle Eells of Health and Unity for Greg
Alecia Sundsmo, director of Clinical Services at Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca, said that her agency provides mental health care across the age spectrum regardless of ability to pay.
“One of the amazing things about Family and Children’s is that we can really provide mental health care from our zero-to-five program all the way up to our geriatric mental health program,” she said. “Somebody is never turned away. We know that equity across access to healthcare is so critical to making sure that people have the care that they need in the community where they live and work.”
Sundsmo also noted the agency’s outreach programs “to make sure that we reach folks who might have some additional stigma or barriers to seeking access to care. We go out and help them and find them and make sure that we can provide social supports in the community.” She said that the outreach includes community education programs and extends to supporting mental health in local businesses through their Employee Assistance Programs.
Michelle Eells of Health & United for Greg thanked Family & Children’s for establishing the Greg Eells Memorial Fund in honor of her husband, who died by suicide in 2019. Greg Eells was a veteran psychologist and active member of the Family & Children’s board.
“The fund helps provide wellness support and education to the Family and Children’s Service clinicians and staff,” Eells explained. “As mental health providers and caregivers who care vehemently for others and take it all in, they also need to be supported and make a priority to care for themselves.”
The Greg Eells Memorial Fund is the recipient of the 2023 Cupcake Button fundraising campaign organized by The Sophie Fund, which collects donations every year to support a local mental health nonprofit.
Lovisa Johanson of Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca
Samantha Shoemaker of Free Hugs Ithaca and Darrell Harrington of Be Kind Ithaca
Olivia Duell of the Advocacy Center of Tompkins County
Brandi Remington of the Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force
Skip Knoll and Virginia Cook of The Sophie Fund
Stacy Ayres and Crystal Howser of AFSP Greater Central New York
Kathy Taylor and Sandra Sorensen of NAMI Finger Lakes
You must be logged in to post a comment.