An area non-profit is celebrating 40 years of aiding victims of childhood sexual abuse this month.
The Children’s Center for Hope in Healing in Gainesville provides several therapy and education services to clients at no cost in its mission to help children, teens, and adults alike heal from childhood sexual abuse.
Paul Hanson, Executive Director of the organization, said the center aims to provide accessible services across 13 counties in the Northeast Georgia region.
“We have these individuals, the children, and they're from three years old to 17, and they come into our center and they're broken,” Hanson explained. “They've been traumatized by childhood sexual abuse. So, through therapy, we're able to provide them with hope and healing and help them reassimilate and get back into somewhat of a normal life.”
The organization provides four major programs to clients, which include Victim Services, Project Pathfinder, which aids children who may exhibit sexual behavior issues, Adult Services, and Latino Victim Services. In 2023, the center served 532 families and offered 5,625 hours worth of therapeutic services.
1 in 10 children will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18, with over 90 percent of children and their families knowing the person that harmed them, according to the organization. He explained that therapeutic services not only help children in the present, but can also prevent mental health issues later on in life.
“The children that don't receive this kind of therapy that have suffered that trauma, are [more] likely to commit suicide later on in life,” he said. “By getting this therapy and helping them cope, then it helps restore dignity to them, and as I said, it's at least likely for them to have to become abusers later on in life, and to have depression and anxiety and suicidal tendencies going forward, too.”
The Children’s Center for Hope and Healing relies heavily on grants and community support to provide their services for free. The organization is set to host its annual fundraising Gala on August 17, with tickets still available to purchase. Individual tickets cost $125 and table sponsorships cost $900. The event will feature a cocktail hour, dinner, and silent auction to benefit the center. The Gala will last from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
For those who may not be able to attend the gala, Hanson said the center is always in need of snacks for clients, age appropriate books, and other supplies for play based therapy. A wishlist for the center can be found here.
The Children’s Center for Hope and Healing accepts clients through referrals and offers three locations throughout the region in Gainesville, Cumming, and Cornelia. To learn more about the center and its services, click here.
