Help Child Advocacy Centers
Below is a lengthy but information filled email from the director of
the Gulf Coast Child Advocacy Centers, including Pascagoula, about
the impact of Katrina and their current needs. As I think you know,
Child Advocacy Centers are the child-friendly, welcoming places
where alleged victims of child sexual abuse first go to be
interviewed and receive services. These are scared - and maybe
angry - kids who have been hurt in a way no child should ever have
to suffer. Add to that the traumatic effects of Katrina and
displacement for many families. I am forwarding this to you in case
you or someone you know might be able to provide support - whether
inkind or cash - to help the Child Advocacy Centers of the Gulf
Coast become fully operational as soon as possible.
Thanks.
Virginia Stallworth
Associate Director
Memphis Child Advocacy Center
(901) 888.4340 direct
(901) 888.4390 FAX
vstallworth@memphiscac.org
Memphis Child Advocacy Center
Helping victims become children again.
www.memphiscac.org
-----Original Message-----
From: blogan7061@aol.com [mailto:blogan7061@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 10:51 AM
To: Shawn McEniry
Subject: Gulf Coast Center Katrina update!
October 18, 2005
Dear National Children's Alliance members,
To all of you who have kept all of us in your thoughts and prayers
after the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, please accept
our heartfelt thanks. We are keeping our spirits as high as
possible and the calls and emails from each of you have helped more
than you can ever know. We are so very thankful for your kind
offers of help and assistance.
As I'm sure you can imagine, our most immediate need is for cash
donations to replace revenue and matching funds that will not be
available to us any longer. This is so important to keep our
programs up and going in this interim crisis period. The majority
of our local supporters have been destroyed also; so therefore, we
are very worried about the Center's cash flow and ability to match
federal funds that we currently have in place. As an example, the
City of Biloxi annually donates approximately $35,000 to the Center,
which is used as matching funds. The city has lost 80 percent of
its entire tax base. The Mayor has already stated that there is no
way they will be able to continue as they had budgeted. As you can
imagine, we anticipate this will have a direct negative impact on
the city's support of the Center. We anticipate that the majority
of our local support will be similarly impacted.
As I discussed with many of you, our original plan was to gather
together the Center's management staff and meet to assess the safety
and security of our staff, the damages we have suffered and to
develop a recovery plan. The program directors and I met on Monday,
Sept. 12, and reported on each staff member and each of our physical
locations. Many of you had asked for a physical list of things that
were needed and we worked to put that in place. It is listed below
and is a list of things that are needed to help families and the
Center. It includes what was lost to date that we know of.
For those who are reading this for the first time, the offices of
the South Mississippi Exchange Clubs Center for the Prevention of
Child Abuse and the South Mississippi Child Advocacy Centers,
headquartered in Gulfport, MS, sustained varying degrees of damage
from totally loss of office and operations to roof and rain damage
due to hurricane Katrina. Like our neighbors, families and friends
all along the Gulf Coast, we are concentrating on recovery at this
point. We operated from eight offices, providing free services to
thousands of children and families each year. Some schools have
attempted to open but many of our children are not in school and
won't be for some time.
I ' m sure you can all imagine the stress that families are under
and the need for services more than ever at this time. Not to
mention the safety involved because registerd sex offenders are
residing in the tents and shelters right along side our children and
have no obligation to register there status to utilize the temporary
shelter. We are dedicated to this and have many staff members who
are homeless themselves, but remain committed to working and
helping. Over one third of our staff of 31 has totally lost their
homes while others have had significant damage.
We are working as a family and a team to insure that our employees
are safe and sound and that the agency is ready to function as soon
as possible in this time of great need. While we face the biggest
challenges of our lives, we are rallying and working hard to again
make positive changes in the lives of South Mississippi's children
and families, but we need your HELP!!!
The following is a list of what is needed to help us regain solid
footing, recover from our losses and help our employees to realize a
sense of normalcy in their personal and professional lives: If
there is any way to help with any of this or make a contribution, it
would be greatly appreciated.
For our employees and their families:
Prayers
Furniture and bedding
Linens and toweling
Cleaning supplies
Household items such as paper products, toiletries, etc.
For the Center and our offices:
Prayers
Cash donations
Temporary office facilities in Jackson County and Hancock County
File recovery services
Tree and debris removal
A motor home for conducting child victim forensic interviews
Paper products
Office consumable supplies of all types
Shingled roofing repairs, shingles, tar paper, nails, etc for
repairs for two buildings
Metal roofing repair and materials for two buildings
Electrical systems inspection and repairs
Installation of additional electrical outlets, phone lines, cable
lines and materials for such
Installation of central A/C unit and ducting
File cabinets (12)
Desks (9)
Computers, monitors, printers (7)
Fax machine (2)
Copier (2)
Forensic interview equipment to include: cameras, mics, DVD
recorder, VHS dubbing machines, VHS tapes, recordable DVDs, TV/VCR
combos, VHS/DVD combos, TVs, TV cart.
Mini fridge (2)
Microwave (2)
Multi-line phones (5)
TV cart
Window unit A/C, 10K BTU
Answering machine (2)
Desk chairs, rolling (8)
Folding chairs (30)
Sofa (2)
Love seat (2)
Children ' s table and chairs set (2)
Children ' s books, tapes, DVDs, games
Paper shredder (4)
Book cases (8) for offices
Family resource library magazine racks, Pamphlet racks, book cases
Dry erase board (2)
Resource library materials
Bulletin boards (8)
End tables (4)
Folding tables (10)
Locking storage locker (2)
Kitchenette set w/chairs (2)
Carpeting
Paint
Porch railing and repair
Indoor/Outdoor carpeting
Ceiling tiles
8X10 area rug
Window/glass repair/replacement
General office supplies (all) to include copy paper, hole punchers,
post its, pens, etc.
Our Gulfport, Wiggins and Hattiesburg offices remain open and will
be our hubs until we can re-establish offices in Bay St. Louis and
Pascagoula. For the time being, our mailing address is:
Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse
905 Hardy St.
Suite 218
Hattiesburg, MS 39401
All donations may be sent to the above listed address. You may reach
me at (228) 868-8686 or my cell number (228) 669-5900. Please keep
the Center, its employees, clients and the families of South
Mississippi in your thoughts and prayers. For those who have been
in touch personally, you know who you are, I am eternally grateful!
God Bless and keep you all safe,
Bridget Logan
Executive Director
BL:cdg