CLEVELAND — Just over the last few years, the Children's Services Hotline received around 20,000 calls and 12,000 of those calls were escalated into investigations. The Canopy Child Advocacy Center told News 5 it took on 500 of those kids last year. Now, each of those kids is represented in a Pinwheel Garden at Huntington Park as the nation honors April as Child Abuse Awareness Month.
According to Canopy, “Pinwheel gardens represent our effort to focus on community activities that support families and public policies that prioritize prevention right from the start to make sure child abuse and neglect never occur.” Canopy serves kids ages zero to 12 that have experienced sexual abuse and up to 21-years-old that have experienced human trafficking.
“There is one pinwheel at minimum for every child that canopy saw last year,” said Jennifer Johnson, Executive Director of Canopy Child Advocacy Center. “It was started years ago by someone who had experienced child abuse and was wanting to do something to honor her grandchildren, recognizing the fact that they had experienced child abuse, and she wasn't able to provide them a safety that she felt like they deserved.”
While many sinks in their believed inability to help, Natalie A. Leek, President and CEO of the Providence House, says the reality is we are all capable. However, we must be open to learning as education is the first line of defense.
“What is it? What does it look like? What does child abuse and neglect mean? I think that there is a misunderstanding that child abuse and neglect means a child has been physically abused and that's only one type of child abuse,” Leek shared. “The next layer is to also identify when a family needs support. Most situations with child abuse and neglect are not intended. They're the result of increased stressors, lack of basic resources, high levels of poverty, unsafe housing situations that ultimately lead to harm for the child, but were not malicious intent by the parent or guardian. So, we need to really help families in those situations be able to know that they're safe in stepping forward to say, ‘I'm worried for my child's safety.’ We need these resources in order for them to be safe and not feel that there a repercussion for them stepping forward to ask for help.”
We know the effects of abuse are damaging in more ways than one, and as advocates plead, the stolen joy and future successes from our youth remain detrimental.
“We're dealing with current child abuse that's happening, but also prior histories of child abuse that happened during the pandemic inside people's homes over longer periods of time where the kids weren't able to tell anyone,” Johnson said.
The Pinwheel Garden will stay up through Sunday, April 30. If you or anyone needs help, call the Children’s Services Hotline at 855-O-H-child (855-642-4453).
To contact Canopy, call 216-574-4325.
In addition, Providence House will open its new Crisis Nursery this summer. According to the organization's website, the renewed model and space will house children "while Licensed Social Workers work with parents and guardians through family preservation services to provide support, guidance, and education to address each family’s specific needs."
To contact Providence House, call 216-651-5982.
