More than 1,450 children die from abuse or neglect annually, and countless fatalities go unreported. In Missouri alone, 93,000 calls were made to child abuse hotlines in 2013, an increase of 26 percent from 2009. Those who survive abuse often suffer severe trauma, as local couple Tom and Alison learned last year when they adopted two young sisters. “Unbeknownst to us, the older girl had been sexually and physically brutalized from the age of 2,” Alison says. “She would act out sexually and suffered destructive, violent tantrums. My days were spent holding her for dear life, so she wouldn’t harm herself or others. Tom and I were scared to death. We didn’t know if we would be able to keep her. We kept searching for help, only to be told it would be months before anyone could see us.”
Then they were referred to Family Resource Center, a nonprofit agency that gives abused children and teens a chance for a better life. “We called and they said, ‘Please come right in, we can help,’” Tom recalls. “They directed us to their therapeutic preschool and an incredibly skillful, compassionate therapist. It was the first step to healing our daughter.”
Family Resource Center, established in 1974, serves more than 7,000 children and family members each year. “We strengthen families where abuse has occurred, or is at risk of occurring, through a comprehensive range of innovative, evidence-based therapeutic, educational and support services,” explains CEO Greg Echele. Programs, often offered in collaboration with the family court system, schools, neighborhood partnerships and other agencies, are designed to treat all forms of child abuse and neglect—and to prevent it whenever possible. Services include parenting skills training and mentoring, in-home prevention programs, and foster care recruitment, training and case management. “Our Family Preservation program keeps 85 out of 100 eligible kids out of foster care,” Echele notes. “And Pathbuilders, which focuses on abusive families caught in the welfare system, has a 100 percent track record of preventing or stopping abuse.”
The center gets some support from United Way, but relies on donations from caring individuals, corporations and foundations. Soar, a major fundraiser, takes place Feb. 14 at Union Station. This year’s theme is Rising Above Abuse, Reaching New Heights. Honorary co-chairs are Ken Cella, principal of branch development at Edward Jones, and his wife, Melissa; Ivan and Jenifer Garcia, owners of Garcia Properties; and Gary Olson, former CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital, and his wife, Gail.
“A kite can’t fly on its own,” Echele says. “It needs wind, somebody to grab the string and run, and strong, steady support,” he says. “The kids we serve deserve the same. So many children and families desperately need our help—and they need it now.” He asks St. Louisans who can’t attend the gala to send a donation. “Working together, we can help break the generation-to-generation cycle of despair, abuse and neglect, and help these kids find a way to truly soar.”
[Soar: Rising Above Abuse, Reaching New Heights, a gala benefiting Family Resource Center, takes place Feb. 14 at St . Louis Union Station. The center is a member of United Way. For tickets and tables, contact Tina Nelson at 314.534.9350, or visit frcgala.org.]
Photo courtesy of Family Resource Center
