Up & Coming Weekly

March 30, 2021

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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8 UCW MARCH 31-APRIL 6, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and for the past 11 years our community has honored children by planting blue pinwheels in honor of child abuse prevention. e pinwheel represents the bright future that every child deserves. e Child Advocacy Center received a total of 876 reports of child abuse during FY 19/20, a 20% increase over FY 18/19. Currently, we are continu- ing to see those numbers increase as well. For the period July 1 until De- cember 31, 2020, the CAC received a total of 521 reports of suspected abuse, up 29% from the same period in 2019. is has been a difficult year on so many levels due to the pandemic. COVID-19 has brought about so many changes, as well as un- certainty. ese challenges have brought about more time at home, more time on electronic devices and less time being able to safely socialize with friends in general. Until last week, children in our community had not been inside a classroom since March 13, 2020. Jeanne Allert, CEO and Founder of e Sa- maritan Women, in Baltimore, Maryland, pre- sented a webinar about Victimology: Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking. She shared that profes- sionals are already discussing the impact the pandemic may have on children and families once children begin to re-engage in a more traditional school schedule. Educators account for 50% of reports of child abuse. April is also a time to look forward – a time to be a part of ensuring that every child has a bright future. All children deserve to grow up in loving, stable and stimulating environments, in their home, church, school and in the com- munity. Most of all, we want childhood to be a time when children no longer live in fear. is year, we want more than ever to have a significant presence with pinwheels heav- ily displayed throughout our community. We want to cohesively and prominently show that our community supports children. April is an ideal time for our community to reflect and to recognize the children who have been victim- ized through the pain of abuse — physical, emotional and/or sexual. At the CAC, our vision is a community where children feel safe, nurtured and loved. April is a time to remind us that no matter the chal- lenges, to include a global pandemic, we face as individuals, caring for all our children must always be our priority. You can join us in promoting healthy child- hoods for our children. You can purchase a pinwheel garden kit (24 pinwheels and a yard sign) for $40 or a Pinwheel Vase (eight pin- wheels in a vase with ribbon) for $15. Visit our website CACFayNC.org to place your order. Once you plant your garden of pinwheels or display your pinwheel vase, tag us on your social media, include the fol- lowing hashtags – #passthepinwheel, #cacfayncpinwheels2021, #pinwheels- forprevention During the month of April, the CAC will be hosting "Read-Along Story Times" on Tuesday of each week. We will be reading books that talk about body safety, boundaries and how to say no when the child feels uncomfort- able. You can view these on the CAC's Facebook & Instagram pages or on our website CACFayNC.org. ese are great opportunities to talk with your child about appropriate touching and setting boundaries. Research has shown, it is better to start teaching children about body safety when they are young and to continue throughout their childhood. It is never too late to begin. is April and throughout the year, let's all join together to provide help, hope and heal- ing to children who have been victimized by abuse. Join us in creating a community (and beyond) where children feel safe to run and play, where all children feel love and accepted versus living in fear. We hope to see blue pinwheels spinning in the sun and throughout our community this April reminding us all that EACH child de- serves a happy childhood. Community members can join CAC for a virtual Pinwheel Planting at noon on April 1 on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ CACFayNC. To learn more about how you can participate, please check out the Facebook page, the website or call 910-486-9700. For more information about April and Child Abuse Prevention, including how to become involved in prevention, follow CAC on social media or visit the website www.CACFayNC.org. Happy Pinwheel Planting! CAC asks the community to join them in planting blue pinwheels for child abuse prevention. Child Advocacy Center plants blue pinwheels to raise awareness by FAITH BOEHMER Reports Received for Suspected Abuse Type of Report Total Reports Sexual Abuse Physical Abuse Neglect *more than 1 type of abuse can be reported for a single case Below is a table comparing data from July 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019 with July 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020: Witness to Violence Drug Endangerment 404 215 173 105 19 10 521 276 264 175 68 32 29% 28% 53% 67% 257% 220% Increase July 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019 July 1, 2019 – December 31, 2020 EVENTS FAITH BOEHMER, Prevention & Volunteer Coordinator, CAC COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200.

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