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Children who have suffered child abuse will soon have the comfort of a purpose-built facility designed to bring the services they need into one place.
The Child Advocacy Centre cause has been championed by the Kelowna Foundation's President and Board Director, Al Hildebrandt who was thrilled to see that this day had finally arrived. "With the commitment of our partners, we set on on a journey to build a child-friendly place," said Hildebrandt, "where these vulnerable children would feel safe, secure and important."
The centre will be built on the second floor at 1815 Kirschner Road near the corner of Dickson Avenue. A full renovation has now begun on the 6 thousand square feet of space. The facility will include RCMP members dedicated to child abuse investigations, health-care, counselling and other supports.
There were a lot of smiles today, but spokesperson Ginny Becker admits there's more work ahead. "There's fundraising to be done, staff to be on-boarded, operational plans to be developed and programs to be designed," said Becker. She said the centre is the result of a collaboration with the RCMP, The Ministry of Child and Family Development and Interior Health along with the work of the Kelowna Foundation. "Once operational, the Child Advocacy Centre will transform the way our community responds to child abuse and neglect," she said. No longer will these brave children and their families be required to navigate a complicated and siloed system.
The newly appointed Chair of the Advocacy Centre Board is Rick Oliver, who is the Assistant Superintendent of School District 23. "We're committed to working hard to create a cutting-edge innovative facility and programs that are responsive to our community needs," said Oliver.
The board has $1.5 million to get started with construction but needs another $1.5 to reach its goal. An additional $3 million will be needed for the first four years for operational costs.
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