Teddy bears outnumber people during Tuesday’s presentation of 50 bears by the Exchange Club of Mount Olive to the Mount Olive Children’s Advocacy Center. Pictured, back row, from left: are: Latoya Mobley, James Kornegay, Michael Thompson, Dwayne McKay, Hazel Wiggins, Steve Wiggins, Lynwood Herring, Gary Barefoot, Bryant Gibson and Lela Best. Front row, from left,are: Brittany Parent, Belinda Parent and Amberely Davis. Mobley, Gibson and Best are with the Children’s Advocacy Center. Others pictured are with the Exchange Club. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Stuffed animals, like this bear — one of 50 donated by the Exchange Club of Mount Olive to the Mount Olive Children’s Advocacy Center — bring comfort to children who have experienced abuse, according to CAC coordinator Bryant Gibson. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
The front room of the Mount Olive Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) was filled with teddy bears on Tuesday, thanks to a donation of 50 of the cuddly creatures by the Exchange Club of Mount Olive. This marked the first time the center, which has been up and running for about a year, received a donation of new toys from a civic organization.
The purpose of the Mount Olive CAC is to address allegations of physical and/or sexual abuse of children, from infants to age 18 (and possibly older, if warranted by the developmental level of the individual); the center acts as a resource for both the children and their families, and it serves both Wayne and Duplin counties.
According to Mount Olive CAC coordinator Bryant Gibson, members of law enforcement are responsible for making appointments and accompanying children with allegations of abuse (and their families) to the center; in other words, families are not permitted to make appointments themselves.
Once at the center, the child is accompanied by an advocate at all times, and will undergo a recorded interview “in a non-leading, neutral environment” and a medical exam with a promise to the child of “no pokies or ouchies,” according to Gibson. But first, the child is given a tour of the entire facility, seeing the recording devices and the exam room ahead of time to help put him or her at ease. “We tell them exactly what’s going to take place so they know everything before they get started, so there’s no surprises,” he explained. Every effort is made to keep the stress level as low as possible, to the point of having iPads and stuffed animals in the exam room to help calm and comfort the child. And, Gibson emphasized, the child is always in control of the situation and can refuse to talk during the interview or to undergo the exam.
Currently, the Mount Olive CAC doesn’t offer on-site therapy services, so children and their families are referred elsewhere after the initial interview and exam, but Gibson noted that this will change in the future. Even though therapy currently takes place elsewhere, the center continues to monitor the cases, meeting monthly with officials from the Department of Social Services and law enforcement to make certain families are receiving the services they need.
The Mount Olive CAC is poised to help approximately 135 children and their families during the calendar year, and Gibson credited its successful inaugural year with having patterned itself after sister CAC, the Tedi Bear Children’s Advocacy Center in Greenville. Greenville’s CAC is affiliated with East Carolina University, and Gibson hopes to establish a similar relationship with the University of Mount Olive, possibly drawing interns from the school’s nursing and justice programs.
Tuesday’s donation of teddy bears by the Exchange Club was significant, according to Gibson, explaining that each child who comes to the center is allowed to select a stuffed animal to take home.
And it turned out that the center’s need for stuffed animals aligned perfectly with the Exchange Club’s National Project, which is the Prevention of Child Abuse. “When Bryant let us know that they were in need of comfort bears for the Advocacy Center, we felt compelled to donate,” explained Belinda Parent, the club’s president-elect. “Our motto is ‘Unity for Service,’ which is why many of us joined the Exchange Club of Mount Olive, to serve our community.”
The 50 teddy bears donated by the club will, according to Gibson, work wonders. “You’d be surprised what one small token, whether it’s a teddy bear or [another] stuffed animal will do for them…Once they’ve come in with this type of trauma, something just this small, something soft, something they can hold and squeeze and sleep with at night, means a lot to them.” Gibson said. “It’s very comforting.”
The Mount Olive Children’s Advocacy Center also accepts donations of gently used, clean stuffed animals.
