Written By Donna Engle
When a rape victim comes to Carroll Hospital Center on Anne L. Allen’s watch, she jumps out of bed and hits the road, often in the small hours of the morning, to bring victims comfort, caring, a nonjudgmental ear and information they need.
For 15 years, Eldersburg resident Anne Allen has given her time, skills and energy to help local victims of sexual assault. The recipient of a Maryland’s Most Beautiful People award in 2000 for her volunteer work, Allen makes the midnight drives and takes the weekend and holiday on-call hours because she has personally experienced the anger, vulnerability, helplessness and grief that frequently overwhelms victims of violent crimes. And when she needed an advocate to help her through, there was none.
As the longest-serving volunteer of the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County, Inc. (RCIS), Allen donated 4,500 hours as of December 31, 2006.
Being on call means, “you must be able to get to the hospital within 30 minutes. It means you can’t have a drink that night, you can’t put the pager down and go into the other room. It’s a big commitment,” said Janice A. Kispert, chief executive officer of RCIS. It may mean awakening at 3 a.m. to drive to Carroll Hospital Center.
Victims aren’t always immediately grateful for the volunteers’ presence after they are assaulted. “There’s a lot going on that night,” said Allen. “A lot of them are [thinking], ÔI just want to get out of the hospital and if I just pretend it didn’t happen, maybe it will go away.’”
Volunteers from RCIS provide information about sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, pregnancy, and counseling available at the RCIS office. They explain the evidence gathering procedure, answering, “What will happen?” They hold victims’ hands and get them a soda or snack. They listen non-judgmentally. “I look at it as planting seeds,” said Allen.
“Anne is very passionate about what she does. She’s a real advocate for victims,” said Mary G. Lambertson, coordinator of the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) program–a group of specially trained nurses who gather evidence-at Carroll Hospital.
The SAFE nurses rely on volunteers to provide emotional support for victims, Lambertson said. Under time constraints to get medical procedures done, nurses have less time to provide emotional support or food and drinks, she explained.
The event that would lead Allen to become a volunteer occurred in August, 1982. Anne, her mother, Betty Allen, and father, Samuel S. Allen, sat down to dinner on a late Sunday afternoon in their Baltimore County suburban home. In an instant, life changed.
A man walked in through the kitchen door. He brandished a gun and demanded money. As Samuel Allen moved to comply, the intruder shot him twice, fatally. The gunman grabbed Anne Allen and ordered her to drive him in her father’s truck.
Allen started the truck, her mind searching for a way to escape. Fortunately, the truck stalled at the end of the driveway. The intruder jumped out and fled on foot. He was never caught.
Anne and Betty Allen had to deal with grief, police interviews and mug shots. Eventually, Anne returned to her job as a psychology teacher at Arundel Senior High School. She and her mother stayed in their house for a year while they shopped for another home. In 1984 they moved to Eldersburg, where they found a lot that had acreage for a house, a barn and pasture for Anne Allen’s Tennessee walking horse.
In 1989, Anne Arundel County Schools offered a program on identifying abused children. “It was an ÔAha’ moment for me,” Allen said. She realized that some students who were acting out in class might be victims of physical or sexual abuse.
Two years later, when Allen saw a solicitation for rape crisis volunteers, she responded. She brought good qualifications: a background in psychology, being accustomed to dealing with teen-agers as a teacher (most victims are teen-aged girls), and ability to handle an out-of-control situation, something she had been forced to learn when her father was shot.
Signing up to be an RCIS volunteer, said Kispert, “is demanding. It’s not something you do lightly.” Volunteer burnout has not been a major issue, she said. But volunteers have a chance to debrief at meetings every other month.
Allen reduces stress through gardening–gardens surround the house she and her mother share and daffodils brighten their woods. Banjo, her Tennessee walker, helps ease stress. Horseback riding, she said, is, “better than blood pressure medication.”
Allen retired in 1999 after 29 years of teaching. Retirement has allowed her to take RCIS calls on Sunday evenings, a difficult time for volunteers who must be at work in the morning. She is also learning Spanish, actively involved in the Baltimore Gem Cutters Guild, volunteering at the Carroll County Farm Museum and spending time shopping for antiques.
“I’m having an absolute ball,” she said.
For information about volunteering with the Rape Crisis Intervention Service, call (410) 857-0900 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
