News

Mainstay wins grant for child advocacy center

By Bill Moss, Published: May 21, 2015

Mainstay has been awarded a $15,000 grant by the Community Foundation of Henderson County to bring Mainstay and the Healing Place together and to re-establish the Child Advocacy Center.

“Over the past several months, the Boards of Directors for Mainstay and the Healing Place have been in discussion about creating a legal relationship between the two organizations,” Tanya Blackford, executive Director for Mainstay Inc., said in a news release. “This partnership would allow us to strengthen the services provided for victims of sexual assault and interpersonal violence. The purpose is to serve these victims and their families more effectively and efficiently.”

Child Advocacy Centers focus on children and offer a multidisciplinary response to child abuse. This response helps to prevent the re-victimization of children. Professionals across the country have recognized that by focusing on abused children, they can work together to achieve better outcomes for young victims and their families.

The Child Advocacy Center would be developed under the same multi-agency collaboration that created the Henderson County Family Justice Center. The Family Justice Center opened in October 2014 through a partnership of local service agencies, the Department of Social Services, attorneys and law enforcement agencies. The Child Advocacy Center partners will include Pardee Hospital and the Blue Ridge Community Health Services.

The Community Foundation of Henderson County, founded in 1982, supports charitable programs in the greater Henderson County area.