Monika Johnson-Hostler, Executive Director at NCCASA, will welcome folks to the 2025 Biennial Conference, “Power of Community”, as well as provide announcements for the day.

 

“Beyond Surviving: The Courage to Heal and Lead” is a powerful keynote that blends personal testimony with transformative leadership insights. Drawing from her lived experiences as a survivor of incest, rape, and teen dating violence, Teresa M. Stafford-Wright shares her remarkable journey from trauma to triumph. She reflects on how her early life, shaped by pain and stigma—including being labeled a juvenile delinquent and becoming a teen mother—fueled her commitment to creating safe, healing spaces for others. Through resilience, advocacy, and radical self-acceptance, she rose to lead one of Ohio’s most impactful survivor-centered organizations. In this moving and motivational address, Teresa highlights the intersections of trauma, healing and leadership, offering a message of hope and empowerment for those still finding their way. “Beyond Surviving” is more than a story—it’s a call to action for individuals and institutions to embrace trauma-informed, culturally responsive approaches that not only support healing but also cultivate courageous leadership rooted in lived experience.

African American women survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault often face compounded layers of trauma, systemic inequities, and cultural expectations that make healing a unique challenge. This workshop, Radical Self-Care as Resistance: Empowering Boundaries and Self-Advocacy in Healing and Resilience, is designed as a safe, affirming space where participants can explore radical self-care as a tool for healing, resilience, and empowerment. Through culturally responsive practices, guided self-reflection, and interactive exercises, participants will learn how to prioritize their well-being, set boundaries, and advocate for their needs in personal and systemic contexts.

This mixed panel and lecture will provide an in-depth exploration of the vital role Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) play in ensuring justice, healing, and community support for survivors of sexual assault. Hosted by the the Chair of the Wake County Sexual Assault Response Team, Wake County DA Felony SVU Prosecutor, Two (2) Forensic Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, Two (2) Felony Special Victims Unit Detectives, Victim Advocate & Licensed Mental Health Professional. This workshop session will highlight best practices in case review, the importance of serving marginalized populations, the necessity of accountability, and the transformative power of interdisciplinary collaboration in every sexual assault that occurs in our county – to show through the lens, that we are all better together. 

Disabled survivors of sexual violence face unique barriers to healing, autonomy, and pleasure—yet their experiences are often overlooked in survivor advocacy spaces. Many rely on caregivers, institutions, or systems that ultimately severely limit them in their ability to make choices about their own bodies. Societal narratives suggest that disabled people should accept whatever relationships they can get, reinforcing coercion and making consent even more complex. Additionally, ableism and medical trauma often create deep disconnection from the body, making traditional approaches to survivor support incomplete or inaccessible.

 

In this joint workshop presented by CrossRoads and The Caswell Chapter of The Health Collaborative, participants will learn how their own organizations could improve prevention and intervention services, as well as make a better, more efficient use of resources, by turning to community-led groups like The Caswell Chapter of The Health Collaborative and saying, ” Hi. We have a question (or thought). Can we share it with you?” Or, “Hi, we would like to ask what you think.”

The session will begin with an introduction to the current state of homelessness and housing insecurity in the United States, highlighting the inefficiencies of a fragmented housing system. We will delve into the pain points experienced by providers, such as inconsistent availability of shelter beds, and by individuals, such as complex application processes, intake requirements and transportation barriers.

In this interactive workshop we will discuss the need for multi-iterative and tiered suicidality screening for sexual assault survivors. Individuals who have experienced sexual assault are more likely to have increased ideations, suicide attempts, and dying by suicide. Often many of these survivors do not report suicidal ideations or do not seek resources because they are not asked about suicide. Furthermore, many agencies are underprepared in how to assess and support survivors who do disclose suicidality.  Often, many organizations default to calling Mobile Crisis Services or 988. This can create overreliance on one particular resource.