According to Dolores Reidenbach, the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse case is just the tip of the iceberg.

"It's rampant," she said. "The (national) statistics are staggering. One in four girls before the age of 18 will be victimized in some way; one in six boys."

Reidenbach, 51, of Elizabethtown, is founder and president of Jewel David Ministries, 48 Industrial Road, Elizabethtown, a Christian counseling service for women and families.

She specializes in counseling adult women survivors of child sexual abuse.

"It's very intense," said Reidenbach, a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Elizabethtown.

"People ask me how I can do it. I tell them, 'Well, because God said to.'"

Next month, she will lead "Secret Touch" to teach parents how to recognize the signs of child sexual abuse and to prevent it or stop it.

"People want it," she said of the class. "They called me and asked me to do it."

In April, "On the Threshold of Hope," a six-month group therapy program, will begin for female adult survivors of child sexual abuse.

"It's a blessing to be able to help women at this stage," she said. "But the pipeline is still being filled. Women are still being abused."

She listed the reasons children hide the abuse, which she said begins, on average, at age 5.

"They don't tell because they're ashamed, they're afraid they won't be believed or that even if they do tell, they won't be helped," Reidenbach said.

"As women, they're still terribly wounded, confused. They walk around with all this yucky stuff in their heads that they don't want to talk about, even in this country, where people talk about everything."

"I've seen women who were videoed in porn," she said. "You would melt to the floor if you heard these things. But they're real, and they walk around with these stories and don't tell."

Jewel David gives them a safe place to unburden their hearts, regardless of their ability to pay.

The nonprofit counseling service, with three other counselors, charges clients, with or without insurance, on a sliding scale.

Each hour costs $75. Clients, on average, pay $23 an hour, leaving Jewel David to find the balance.

Jewel David also offers counseling for anxiety, depression, domestic violence, Asperger's syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, grief and divorce. She also counsels married couples, parents and single mothers.

After graduating from Lebanon High School, Reidenbach studied medical business and nursing and worked briefly as a hospital nurse.

But because business was her "true love," she spent most of her career in the corporate world, in sales and marketing and as a clinical consultant for health agencies and medical companies and eventually for her own company.

In business, Reidenbach discovered "people had a lot more issues than the basic stuff" and that piqued her interest in counseling.

She enrolled at Lancaster Bible College and in 2010 earned a master of arts degree, with a double major in marriage and family and mental health. She is now enrolled in LBC's first doctoral program.

While Reidenbach was in school and between clients, a crisis struck her family. She felt lost.

"Lord, where do you want me?" she said she asked over and over again.

Eventually, she received an answer.

"The Lord pressed into my spirit. He told me I have healing graces for women, and 'I want you to give them to me. And money can't be an obstruction.'"

Reidenbach resisted.

"I was afraid I'd be asking for money the rest of my life. I asked a lot of people to pray for me. I heard the Lord calling me, but I was afraid."

Then the "revelation" of a thrift shop came to her.

In October 2010, she opened Lights of Hope Thrift Shop at 155 E. High St., Elizabethtown. It is run by a paid manager and about 10 volunteers, with more needed. (To volunteer, call 333-2025.)

"It happened bang, bang, bang," she said. "I only looked at one property. The store opened in one month. Things just showed up. People rallied around us and supported us."

Last January, Jewel David Ministries began seeing clients in the lower level of the shop, quickly outgrowing the space and moving to its current location, with three offices, a waiting room and a meeting room.

Jewel David is a pen name Reidenbach used for a book she was writing.

"David means beloved," she said. "God loves us so much. We're so precious to him, more precious than jewels."

In its first year, Jewel David had 40 clients — from Lancaster, Dauphin, York and Lebanon counties — totaling about 300 hours.

JDM, with a seven-member board of directors, is subsidized by the thrift shop, fundraisers and donor appeals. For more information, call 689-5167.