GREENFIELD — Delivering a keynote to a group of about 250 people from across the region, including elected officials and directors of health care programs, Donna Lloyd talked about her two nieces.
In 2013, Lloyd helped the two girls get the services they needed as survivors of child abuse.
She leaned on the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin Area for support. At the time though, the center was housed in the Northwest District Attorney’s Office in Greenfield, while some of the services were only provided in Springfield or Worcester.
One thing that was important to the two survivors was having a space that felt less office-like and more friendly, like a home, Lloyd said while speaking at the Children’s Advocacy Center’s fourth annual Hope and Healing Breakfast Friday at Greenfield Community College. Speakers, including Lloyd, highlighted the center’s past work, but emphasized the significance of the new center that opened this year on Wisdom Way in an unassuming house.
“When the girls went that piece (a child-friendly atmosphere) was very important. There was a nice area,” Lloyd said after her talk about the old advocacy center hosted in the Northwest District Attorney’s Office. “But this (the new center) is on a different scale.”
The breakfast was a fundraising opportunity for the center, which is still relatively young. The center focuses on child sexual abuse, serious child physical abuse and child exploitation, its website says.
“When I learned about this program and the work that they do and at a time when people are at their most vulnerable and at one of the worst times in their lives,” Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, said, who received an award this year as the Massachusetts Children’s Alliance Legislator of the Year for the entire state. “It was really easy to become a champion for them and stand for them and fight for them.”
Center Director Irene Woods, who was presented a “wonder woman” shield for her efforts with the organization, listed to the group gathered the number instances the center saw in 2016. The center saw 122 children, 54 boys and 68 girls, and a majority of them were between the ages of 7 to 12; and 45 of the kids were from Greenfield, by far the biggest grouping from any town in the area.
“It’s sad that we have to have these centers but it’s a godsend,” Lloyd said. “It’s much easier for children to feel safe.”
The center also handed out two other awards: the Champion of Kids Award and the Community Award.
Dr. Stephen Boos was recognized for his work at the center as a specialist who comes into the center in Greenfield twice a month, earning the Champion of Kids Award. Before his work, children could have to head to Springfield or Worcester for the specialized treatment.
“Thanks to Dr. Boos, they can now stay in their own community and stay in Greenfield,” said Assistant District Attorney and Chief of Child Abuse Unit Linda Pisano.
Boos closed his remarks by saying: “You are all here because you value children and I want to thank you and applaud you.”
Four retired nurses, Sandy Keir, Sue Mahoney, Connie Richards and Sue Roberts, and the director of volunteers at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Becky George, were recognized for the Community Award.
George explained the importance of helping children to feel comfortable to tell their personal stories, saying once they do so, it can lift an initial burden off of them.
“Suddenly they’re not victims anymore, they’re survivors,” Lloyd said. “That should be the goal.”
The center, which Northwest District Attorney David Sullivan called the “crown jewel of all the CAC’s in the state,” continues to look to fight serious issues of child abuse in the community.