The Harvesting Hope Gala’s keynote speaker, Julia Goodwin, speaks about her personal experiences with the Children’s Advocacy Center. (All images by Andrea Bruner, White River Now)
By Andrea Bruner, White River Now
As an intern at the Children’s Advocacy Center during her junior year of college, Julia Goodwin was no stranger to its mission.
She had walked through the doors years before as a victim.
Goodwin was the keynote speaker for the CAC’s Harvesting Hope Gala for the second year in a row and talked about her personal experiences with the center.
Goodwin, a 2024 graduate of Lyon College, holds a degree in psychology and is now working on her master’s degree with plans to become a therapist.
Goodwin said during her junior year at Lyon, she was able to intern at the CAC, where she worked with advocates, forensic interviewers and therapists. She said her job was really to create educational/social material and compile community resources such as food and clothing donations, etc., but “I watched children come into the advocacy center multiple times a week, sometimes multiple times a day, and receive the care and the love that they needed.”
Goodwin said when she was 14 years old, she was sexually assaulted by someone known to her family but for six months, she did not tell a soul. “Like all dark things, it did come to light. I was interviewed by a police officer, and that was the first time I ever told my story, and it was very terrifying.”
And like so many children who walked into the center before her and so many who have come after her – Goodwin placed a purple handprint on one of the walls.
While the handprint may not hold a lot of significance to some, for Goodwin, “it was the single moment when I realized that what happened to me would never go away. It was the moment I had to decide what I was going to do for this. Who am I going to become?”
Now, at 23 years old, Goodwin said she has told her story so many times that it doesn’t terrify her anymore.
“It healed me; telling my story, my experience with advocacy centers is my way of helping. If I can stand up here, unafraid and willing to share the most terrible thing that happened to me, then I feel like I have the right to ask you some questions:
“What can you do? How can you make sure every child who walks through those doors has the same outcome as me?
“For me, it started in the home,” she said. “Whether you’re a parent, a guardian, or a loved family member of a child – when they come to you, and they tell you this story, believe them. Studies estimate that between 15 and 35 percent of the non-abusing parent disbelieves some aspect of their child’s report. This puts the child at an unfair disadvantage from the very beginning.
“Fortunately, I was not one of those statistics. My family believed me.”
Goodwin also encouraged attendees to support the CAC, by volunteering, donating toys and blankets, or even something as simple as sharing a social media post.
“I received a blanket when I went to my forensic interview, and I still have it,” she said. “It made me feel safe, and I want every child to feel that way.”
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“This young lady is everything that we want young people to grow up to be – healthy, healed, resolved to make a difference in the world, and that’s what she is doing,” said Rhonda Woods, executive director of the CAC. “She has that healing because she got the support that she needed when she needed it.”
She continued, “And there is nothing more important in our world than our children.”
The CAC Harvesting Hope Gala fundraiser, held Thursday evening at Lyon College’s Scottish Heritage Building, included raffle prizes from local businesses and a surprise live auction of a Kansas City Chiefs ticket package.
The Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas began in 1999 with three child advocacy centers. The local chapter opened its doors in November 2018 and was the 17th CAC in Arkansas, but now there are approximately 30 centers around the state. The CAC is a non-residential facility in a home setting that serves children who have been physically or sexually abused or are victims of neglect.
In 2019, the center helped 230 people; since opening, it has served 1,629 people in its five-county service area, including Independence, Izard, Sharp, Fulton, and Stone counties.
In July this year, 21 children came for forensic interviews in just one week alone.
The Children’s Advocacy Center on Boswell Street in Batesville (File image)
Located on Boswell in what Woods and others have affectionately termed the Little Blue House,” the CAC is designed to create a warm, non-threatening, and trauma-informed environment for children. It even has a medical exam room where specially trained nurse examiners provide expert care after reported abuse.
Board President Kyle Christopher said Thursday night that the community has stepped up in the past with support from businesses and individuals, serving the kids who need it the most at no cost to the victims or their families.
“It is the most vulnerable population that we have,” he said. “I appreciate the ladies that work here for the CAC. They wake up every single day, guys. Their jobs are not easy, and they come to work with a smile on their face to really just change kids’ lives.”
Speaking on behalf of First Community Bank as the gala’s presenting sponsor, was Whitney Massey, assistant vice president, community engagement.
Massey said the center provides a safe, supportive refuge for children and families facing their hardest moments, and this life-changing work is only possible thanks to a dedicated team of professionals, volunteers, community partners, and generous supporters.
“Tonight is also a reminder of what can happen when a community comes together for a common purpose. Everyone in this room, whether you are here as a supporter, a donor, a volunteer, an advocate, or a friend of the center, plays a role in helping ensure these important services remain available to the children and families who need them,” she said.
Rhonda Woods (right), executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center in Batesville, presents Batesville Police Department Investigator Brenda Bittle with a special award entitled “Most Valuable Protector.”
Batesville Police Department Investigator Brenda Bittle said the house feels like a home and that makes it a tremendous help to gain a child’s trust and make them feel comfortable.
Woods said law enforcement, DHS Division of Children and Family Services representatives, prosecutors and attorneys understand that working with children takes a delicate touch.
“Brenda Bittle is especially special with her 30 years of experience, her determination, her fight for kids. She never stops, and we appreciate her,” Woods said.
So the CAC decided to create an award to honor Bittle’s work called Most Valuable Protector, “in recognition of her steadfast commitment to protecting children, supporting their healing, and serving justice.”
Bittle started her law enforcement career in 1989 and is also a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, a network of state and local law enforcement agencies combatting child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children.
Bittle said being at the CAC and seeing the walls lined with hundreds of small handprints, each placed by a victim of abuse, is enough to hit someone in the heart. “Half those hands are children I talk to. This month so far, I’ve already got 16 abuse cases in there, which are just kids in school, and it’s earth-shattering.”
She said the whole team works hard and she appreciates every single one. “And we’re going to protect these kids, no matter what.”
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To learn more about the CAC and how to help, call 870-569-8099 or visit www.cacindependence.org.
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