On Jan. 15, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) secured over $5 billion for Washington state projects, including $1.75 million for King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC), a Renton-based nonprofit organization that serves sexual assault survivors and their families throughout King County.

On Jan. 20, Murray hosted a roundtable at KCSARC where she heard how the Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funding will be used to “support survivors of sexual assault, and provide comprehensive services, expand therapy offerings, and support a prevention-focused ‘Train-the-Trainer’ program to meet growing demand.”

“I have had the opportunity to talk to so many people who are survivors and the people who work with survivors and I know how important that is,” said Murray. “So, as vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, when we went to negotiate this bill, I said, ‘This is a top priority,’ and I’m very excited that we were able to — not cut as Trump wanted to do — but increase for the Office of Violence Against Women Act, and that includes $50 million to support access to Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, funding for police officers and prosecutor training, funding for domestic violence hotlines, support for survivor shelters … and a $2 million increase for my program to expand access to sexual assault survivors.”

As an organization, KCSARC not only serves survivors, but also works with the community in “building a world without sexual assault.” Part of this work includes providing resources to teach about boundaries, consent and healthy communication in local school sex ed classes.

According to Laurel Redden, KCSARC’s Director of Communications and Policy, there has been a five to six year decrease in government funding for survivor services.

Along with the $1.75 million, which will be allocated in the next year, KCSARC was able to secure $12 million in funding from Gov. Bob Ferguson, said Redden.

“KCSARC and victim services as a whole has been under such a strain and this is so meaningful, not only just at KCSARC, but to survivors,” said KCSARC CEO Kate Garvey. “They’re watching and what they’re hearing right now is that survivors matter and organizations like KCSARC matter because we’re doing the work to support survivors and we can no longer do more with less.”

Garvey noted that as KCSARC celebrates its 50th year of service to survivors and the community, the organization faces considerable funding challenges that risk its ability to immediately respond to the 4,500 survivors and families who seek our help each year.

“We can’t be more grateful for Senator Murray’s leadership and action that will help prevent loss of staff and their expertise, and keep our response to victims strong,” said Garvey.

For more information, on King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, visit kcsarc.org. To learn more about the Washington projects that will be funded through the $5 billion secured by Murray, visit murray.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Washington-State-EWD-CJS-INT-CDS-Requests.pdf.