DETROIT -- Kimberly Hurst used her own experience to create a better environment in metro Detroit for sexual assault survivors.
As survivor of sexual assault, Hurst said she remembered her first experience treating a victim of sexual assault while training to be a physician¡¯s assistant at Wayne State University being especially powerful.
So in 2006, Hurst founded Avalon Healing Center, which is a comprehensive sexual assault center in Detroit.
¡°We provide crisis intervention, medical exams, forensic evidence collection, all types of counseling, whether it's individual or alternative types of healing like yoga and meditation group counseling,¡± Hurst said. ¡°We do a lot of advocacy in the community, and not just here locally, but at the state and national level.¡±
Hurst is one of this year¡¯s Women¡¯s History Month honorees in the Ilitch Sports + Entertainment Game Changers series, which celebrates community members making a profound difference in Detroit. In partnership with Comerica Bank, the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers recognize one Game Changers honoree per week during select months.
¡°I heard about this sub-specialty, being a sexual assault forensic examiner. They¡¯re trained to use the rape kit and collect evidence, and to go to court and testify as an expert,¡± Hurst said. ¡°I took that training and I was hooked. I started doing that work in Oakland County as an on-call gig.¡±
Doing that work allowed Hurst to identify there was a gap in the treatment available for residents in Macomb and Oakland County in contrast to the lack of resources for those living in Wayne County. She said she wanted to do something about it.
¡°As I was working here in Detroit, the impetus was my own experience having been put in a situation where I was so unprepared to take care of that patient, and then firsthand seeing there was nothing here, that's where [Avalon] came from,¡± Hurst said. ¡°I figured, ¡®Well, we should be able to do this.¡¯ I had no idea what I was doing, but it seemed like this is what needed to happen.¡±
Beyond Hurst¡¯s own first-hand experience, she¡¯s said she understands the scale of sexual violence in metro Detroit and throughout Michigan, highlighting the important of Avalon¡¯s work.
¡°Everything we do is free of charge, and everything we do is confidential,¡± Hurst said. ¡°We're the only provider of our kind in southeast Michigan. We are the largest provider in the state and one of the highest volumes in the country. Unfortunately, we have a huge number of incidents in the state, and in Detroit and Wayne County.¡±
Having treated over 25,000 survivors, Hurst says there are too many patient stories that Avalon has to tell.
¡°We approach it with a trauma-informed lens and with compassion and understanding of the dynamics of sexual violence,¡± Hurst said. ¡°The fact that they will come to us in a time of complete crisis, trauma, and when they leave, you can see an exhale. And you know, they may come to us crying, they may come to us not having any expression at all, but when they leave, there's oftentimes a hug and a thank you.¡±
Ilitch Sports + Entertainment is proud to recognize Hurst as a Game Changers honoree during Women¡¯s History Month for her extremely important work in the community.
¡°I'm very flattered. First of all, this work wouldn't have happened without the people that work here at Avalon and the people that have supported me, my family, my board of directors,¡± Hurst said. ¡°I think what's special about this one is that we're a hockey family. We absolutely love the sport. We put a lot of focus and stock in that with our kids, and so I think it means a little more coming from the Red Wings.¡±