Written by: Victoria Burnett
“You become more aware of what’s going on in their lives,” she said. “You don’t want anything like that happening to your kids.”
Amanda and her daughter Rilynn
Amanda said she realized how serious child abuse is after her first tour of the center with Leadership Fayetteville. After she saw the thousands of handprints, she knew this was the place for her.
“It made it like this is a real issue in our very own community in which we live, and not just something you hear about on the news that seems kind of distant,” she said. “It hit home that it is a problem in our area.”
Part of her job of being on the Fund Development Committee is to tell others in the community about the Children’s Safety Center. She said when she tells others about the center, she always mentions how many children we serve and how we conduct forensic interviews.
“One of the things that I always mention is the number of cases they saw last year,” she said. “That always makes people say ‘Woah, that’s a lot.’ And I talk about how it provides a more comfortable place for them to do their interviews.”
Amanda said she also emphasizes the importance of preventing child abuse to her community members. It can be easy for people to forget that child abuse happens, but with more awareness, more people can recognize the signs of abuse and what to do about them, she said.
“People don’t realize that it does on right here in our community with kids that our kids go to school with,” she said. “I think it is important to be able to recognize that it goes on here, and… by bringing more awareness to that issue, we can get more kids help.”
Thank you, Amanda, for helping the Children’s Safety Center get kids the help they need. With you and the Fund Development Committee, we are restoring dreams!
