GREENFIELD — Thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Bete Family Foundation, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin will be able to buy winter clothes for the children it serves.
The center’s executive director, Irene Woods, said the agency at 56 Wisdom Way will provide families with coats, hats, boots and mittens for their children.
“We also used part of the $5,000 grant to provide training about internet safety,” Woods said. “Children more than ever are at risk of being contacted online because they are there so much for school since the pandemic hit.”
Woods said there have been “quite a few cases” of 9- and 10-year-olds being contacted by predators over the past several months — typically, it’s teens. She said the training is for police so they can identify when children are being “tagged” online.
“Our main concern right now is the profound hardship some families have found themselves in,” she said. “The least we can do is offer a little relief this winter.”
The Children’s Advocacy Center runs completely on federal and state funding and grants, and also accepts donations, according to Woods. She said the Bete Family Foundation, run by Channing L. “Joe” Bete Jr. and his wife, Marie — the owners of the former Channing Bete Co. that operated for many years in South Deerfield — has provided the center with a grant for a couple of years in a row.
“Joe and Marie are so nice,” she said. “After we apply, they go over our finances and talk about things. They’ve been very generous with us.”
The model the Children’s Advocacy Center uses includes law enforcement and child protective services acting first to make sure a child is safe from an abuser. The child is then brought to the center on Wisdom Way where the joint investigation and interview begins. Once the case has been reviewed, decisions are made about how to proceed, including whether the case is presented to the district attorney for prosecution. A suspect is either charged or the case is refused. The child is then either removed from the home, a case is opened, or it is closed and goes no further.
The Greenfield center was closed for several months after the pandemic hit the area, but has since reopened and is seeing children and their families in person. Woods said Plexiglas has been installed for everyone’s safety and everyone must wear a mask when in the building.
For more information about the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin, to donate or to apply for winter assistance, call 413-475-3401 or visit cacfranklinnq.org.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.