A one-stop place for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault on the Gulf Coast is now offering exams and technology to help collect evidence and lead to convictions. 

The Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, a nonprofit that runs two domestic violence shelters and provides a range of services, began Wednesday offering no-cost medical examinations and forensic evidence collection at its new Waypoint Forensic Clinic. 

“Waypoint represents guidance, safety, and hope,” Lillian Lizana, director of the center’s forensic program, said in a statement. “Our goal is to provide compassionate, trauma-informed care that supports survivors and strengthens pathways to justice.”

The clinic is the first in the state to have a CortexFlo camera system, whose enhanced imaging can help see evidence of bruising and other injuries that may not be visible to the eye or by a basic camera, said Rene’ Davis, the center’s communications director. 

She said the technology can help provide evidence that can be used in prosecution of sexual assault and strangulation cases. 

Waypoint will also contract with certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, who collect evidence in kits that can be used in court. The nurses, who are trained to provide trauma-informed care, are able to see survivors at the clinic or an area hospital. 

Davis said the clinic is an integral part of the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence’s 

Family Justice Center, which brings together under one roof help for survivors through counseling, legal aid, law enforcement, prosecutors and other services. Stakeholders from across Harrison County have been working together for several years to establish the center, she said. 

This is the first family justice center in Mississippi, and Davis said the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence is hopeful it will be replicated across the state. 

The family justice center, located in Gulfport at 47 Maples Drive, offers services that include the Northcutt Legal Clinic, which provides free legal services such as filing for domestic abuse protection orders, divorce and child custody, and a domestic violence intervention program geared to abusers that teaches accountability and respect. 

Renderings for the family justice center project imagine spaces for community services such as childcare and pre-school, offices for other departments and agencies and administrative space. 

Nearly 20 years ago, the first family justice center opened in San Diego, California, and now there are more than 300 centers around the country,  according to the Alliance for Hope International. 

A report by the alliance has found that family justice centers help survivors feel safe and empowered and it cites research documenting how they reduce domestic violence homicides. 

“There’s no reason we can’t see that in Mississippi,” Davis said.