ONE ON ONE | Ellen Taylor Rape counseling director stands firm for women

What brought you to this career?
Well, I don't want to really say it was just luck, but in a way it was. I had actually just completed work on my master's degree. I had always been interested in women's issues, had done some crisis work previously and it just seemed like something that was important that I might be able to do.
Later I found out ... that basically what they were looking for and what my r & eacute;sum & eacute; said I'd done matched extremely well. So, I kind of feel like throughout my life everything I'd done just led me to this position.
Do you feel you've changed since starting this job?
I think I've become more adamant about what's right and what's wrong and more assertive in advocating for women's needs and women's rights, and, I guess, angrier about what happens to women in our society.
Do you have one most difficult issue you've dealt with here?
Not really. I think that's a misperception, that even some women have, that some incidents are so much worse than others. But the reality is, if this is happening to you as a human being and as a woman, it is a horrible event in your life. There's no worse crime or lesser crime or worse injury or lesser injury. ... And each woman has the right to have appropriate care in recovering.
What would you most like people to know about this issue?
I think women need to know that it is all right to report it, that there is help available as you desire it and that it's very unfair for anyone to have to suffer alone.
What were you doing before this job?
I worked for Contact Community Connection in Trumbull County, which is the information referral hotline. And I was going to school too. I was one of those who went back to school at a late age. I started school many years ago, stopped, got married and raised a family. My husband actually started to push me, like: "Don't you think you ought to go back and finish that education?"
Never did he imagine what that would lead him to. ... Even though looking back, there's this line that leads me right here, I never had any big dreams like, "this is what I have to do." It was just kind of a fantasy thing, "yeah I want to get the education." And it just kept evolving and here I am.
Who has most influenced your life?
I guess, in the last 10 years, the most influences in my life hasn't been a person -- it has been the clients of this program and what they've taught me about their strength and their resilience and their ability to deal with very difficult things and come through to the other side.
What do you think is the best thing about the Mahoning Valley?
From my limited perspective, the best thing for me in this community has been how all the different systems have worked together to try to make a better environment for survivors of sexual assault and sexual abuse and that includes the medical systems, the police systems, the prosecutor's office, other victim service providers as well as this program.
When you're not working what are you doing?
Well, we do a lot of grandparent things now since we have grandchildren. That's an important thing. I like community theater, my husband and I attend a lot of plays. I like escapist things, actually.
What do you like to read?
I do like escapism, I like fantasies. I do like -- I hate to even admit this -- law books, books about laws and crimes and trials and that kind of stuff.
If you found a magic lamp, what would your three wishes be?
If I found a magic lamp my three wishes would be that society does get sexual assault under control so that we can eliminate all these services, that poverty would be eliminated so all people would have equal opportunity and that I'd have a little house on the beach somewhere where I could spend the rest of my days.
Do you have a favorite restaurant?
That'd be Cafe 422 in Niles. That's our Friday night hangout. I guess that was our pick when our children were away at college and they would come home on the weekends. We would always take them to the 422, the food was always good and it's reasonably priced. So we got bonded to it in those years.