The Center for Alexandria’s Children Celebrates 10th Anniversary

From The Center for Alexandria’s Children: The Center for Alexandria’s Children, the City’s primary resource for the prevention, investigation and treatment of child abuse, with programs serving more than 1,000 at risk children and families each year in Alexandria marked a decade of service in its quest to eliminate child abuse and neglect in Alexandria at its eighth annual gala benefit.

The event honored Alexandria community leaders who have played a part of the genesis of the organization, and have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to improving the lives of Alexandria’s children.

Marking its 10th anniversary, the Center honored an organization instrumental in creation: the Alexandria Community Trust (ACT), a community foundation that works to bring the community together to elevate local philanthropic giving and engagement to support community nonprofits, aid its most vulnerable citizens and develop solutions for its most pressing challenges.

“ACT has consistently provided crucial cross-sector solutions to strengthen change in our community,” early childhood advocate Lori Morris said. “ACT played a key role in bringing everyone to the table to discuss how we could address our community’s need to protect its children. ACT was the glue, the convener, the catalyst for understanding the need to change the mindset in how our community dealt with child abuse and neglect,” she said. “As we sat around the table it became clear, we could not tolerate the loss of a single child.”

Once the group adopted new national model to institute change, ACT negotiated space for the Center, helped provide funds for its first five years and nurtured its independence. It continues to support the Center through capacity-building grants and a joint investment towards a citywide playgroup initiative with The Giving Circle of Alexandria.

“ACT is extremely proud to have been a part of the formation of the Center for Alexandria’s Children,” John Porter, President and Chief Executive Officer for ACT for Alexandria said of receiving the honor. “ “Working with extremely dedicated and talented individuals wishing to make a difference, the Child Advocacy Center model proved to be one for other communities to emulate. More importantly though, the CAC model was a major success for our community and particularly for the children and families impacted by abuse. We are so proud of the CAC and wish only continued success during the next ten years.”

The Center awarded its 2017 Outstanding Dedication to Children Award to former Commonwealth Attorney S. Randy Sengel who also held a place at the table a decade ago when the death of a child brought city and private interests together to forge a union ensuring such a tragedy would not happen again. At the outset, Mr. Sengel insisted that the Center’s primary focus be the elimination of child abuse altogether.

“We are indebted to former Commonwealth Attorney Randy Sengel and ACT for Alexandria for providing the impetus and leadership to create a better system for protecting Alexandria’s children,” Center Board Chair Ellen Foltz said. “Their commitment has led to the growth of the Center’s outreach programs including the exponential growth of the Learn & PlayGroups program, expansion of prevention training within the community and improved processing and management of cases involving abused children.”

The Center’s gala benefit drew a crowd of City officials and private community patrons who “Tipped their Hats” in honor of a decade of service protecting Alexandria’s children and working to eliminating child abuse and neglect. The Gala raised critical funds to supplement recent budget cutbacks from our city and state.

The Center provides comprehensive, coordinated, and compassionate care to children victimized by sexual or physical abuse, or witnesses to violence. In addition, the Center’s prevention and outreach programs continue to experience tremendous growth, reaching more vulnerable families through its Learn & PlayGroups program in which children learn through play, and adults learn parenting best practices from experts. They also benefit by relationships formed with others seeking parenting resources.

A keystone the Center’s mission is the training of professionals who interface with children. Utilizing the nationally recognized Darkness 2 Light’s (D2L) Stewards of Children Training Program, participants learn how to recognize and act to prevent these crimes against children. Last year, training was expanded to include professionals working with children in local non-profit and preschool communities, City staff and social workers, school principals and staff, and numerous students.

Foltz also thanked 2017 GALA sponsors including: Bruhn-Morris Family Foundation, Giving Circle of Alexandria, Mason Hirst Foundation, Strategic Financial Management, The RunningBrooke Fund, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, LLP, CardWorks, DRS, The Goodhart Group, Simpson Development, Inc., Mcearney Associates, Citi Private Bank, and Inova Alexandria Hospital, Alston & Bird, LLP, Grant Thornton, LLP.

For more information, visit the Center’s web site at www.centerforalexandriaschildren.org.

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay