The mission of WoMen's Rural Advocacy Programs, Inc. (WRAP) is to provide safety, advocacy, and assistance for those victimized by domestic violence, sexual violence, and sex trafficking/exploitation in Southwest Minnesota. WRAP promotes community awareness through prevention and education, as well as social change through equality, honesty, and an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.
The WoMen's Rural Advocacy Programs, Inc. (WRAP) is a non-profit tax-exempt organization that received its determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service on May 29, 1997. WRAP's main purposes are to provide safety options, shelter, and advocacy and referral services for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and their children and to alleviate domestic violence in the communities of Southwest Minnesota. This grass-roots network of women helping women began in October 1979.
The Womanspace and Yellow Medicine Women's Center programs were started in Lyon and Yellow Medicine counties in 1994. WRAP operated as a corporation, with the Committee Against Domestic Violence (CADA), Mankato, Minnesota, as its fiscal agent, from July 1, 1994, until June 30, 1997, when it obtained its own 501(c)(3) tax-exempt determination. Services to Lincoln, Murray, and Redwood counties were added at this same time.
WRAP operates Community Action Programs (CAP) for anyone affected by domestic violence in four Southwest Minnesota counties:
WRAP-Lyon, located in Marshall
WRAP-Lincoln served out of Marshall
WRAP-Yellow Medicine, located in Granite Falls
WRAP-Redwood, located in Redwood Falls
WRAP also provides services in Murray County upon request by victims, law enforcement, or other agencies, even though this county is not included in the funding received from the State of Minnesota Office of Justice Programs.