By: Ashmar Mandou

For the past 15 years, Children’s Advocacy Center (ChicagoCAC) has been fighting to keep children safe from sexual and physical abuse and on Thursday, Aug. 4th joined the Public Building Commission of Chicago (PBC) to reveal a new addition to their facility. “At ChicagoCAC, our focus is entirely on children and families healing from abuse,” ChicagoCAC Executive Director Char Rivette, MSW, LCSW said. “Our building is an embodiment of our mission. It is bright and colorful, bringing hope from the second you walk in. It provides privacy, but it’s open to facilitate collaboration among all of our partners. And most importantly, it is home to the incredible staff – our family advocates, forensic interviewers, therapists and other professionals – who have helped more than 30,000 children and families heal from child sexual abuse.” The reveal highlight the importance of ChicagoCAC’s history, staff, partners, and supporters who have helped more than 30,000 children and families affected by abuse.

The new space accommodates ChicagoCAC’s expanded programmatic efforts and includes an education center, therapy rooms, a new entrance and staff offices. The PBC served as the developer for both projects, coordinated the design and procurement and managed construction. “ChicagoCAC is the City’s only not-for-profit organization that coordinates the efforts of child protection staff, law enforcement professionals, family advocates, medical experts and mental health clinicians under one roof,” Felicia S. Davis, executive director of the Public Building Commission said. “It was an honor for the PBC to construct such a visually stimulating facility that assists in supporting children and their families as they begin the healing process.” The new facility is located at 1240 S. Damen. With this new expansion, the center will be able to double its capacity to provide mental health services for children sexually abused, professional and community trainings, increase the number of child and family areas for clients, and much more. In addition to the non-profit’s 60-member staff, the building is home to experts from the Chicago Police Department, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and Cook County Health and Hospitals System. Each year, center staff responds to nearly 2,000 reports of child sexual and physical abuse. The Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center was founded by Mayor Daley in 1998. To learn more about the center, visit ChicagoCAC.org.