Carmen Rodgers
Elmore Autauga News
One Place Family Justice Center has named Dr. Bonnie Sullivan as its new executive director. Sullivan, a Wetumpka native, brings decades of experience in education, community engagement, organizational development and advocacy. She earned bachelor’s, master’s and education specialist degrees from Auburn University at Montgomery before completing an education specialist degree and a doctorate in elementary and secondary supervision from Auburn University.
Sullivan introduced herself and outlined the organization’s mission during the July 13 meeting of the Elmore County Commission, where she highlighted the services One Place provides to survivors of sexual assault, rape and domestic violence.
For more than 16 years, the nonprofit has served survivors of sexual assault, rape and domestic violence across central Alabama. The organization says it has assisted more than 14,400 survivors by providing advocacy, crisis intervention, support services and resources for healing. One Place serves survivors in Autauga, Butler, Crenshaw, Dallas, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery, Perry and Wilcox counties and offers free transportation to help clients access its services.
“What this agency does is that it offers victims and survivors services in one spot,” Sullivan said. “If someone comes in, they can get those services in one spot. Because if you’re coming in traumatized or you’ve gone through trauma, the last thing that you want to do is have to go from one place to the next place.”
The center is known as One Place because it brings multiple victim services together under one roof, allowing survivors to access advocacy, forensic, medical, legal and support services in a single location. The coordinated approach is designed to reduce trauma by limiting the number of times a survivor must recount an assault to different agencies.
In 2025, the center served 31 clients from Elmore County. National research suggests that only about one in three survivors of sexual assault report the crime or seek formal assistance. If that pattern holds locally, it could mean dozens of additional survivors in Elmore County never came forward to receive services or report their assault.
