Students have the opportunity to support children who have been victims of abuse, by donating items to a garage sale Saturday. The event is sponsored by Scotty’s House, a children’s advocacy center.
Scotty’s House, in Bryan, aids in crisis intervention and provides support and counseling to children who are, or were, victims of abuse.
Linda Patton, the executive director of Scotty’s House, said money collected at the garage sale will go toward building the organization a larger center.
“I encourage anyone who wants to do some spring cleaning to donate their items to the garage sale,” Patton said.
Scotty’s House handles more than 400 child abuse cases a year, all of which are conducted out of their facility.
“Scotty’s house is a really neat facility. It is a little house on a residential street, but the house is too small for the number of cases they work with,” said Kelly Curran, a senior communication major.
Curran, with a group of students from one of her classes, are helping organize the garage sale.
“We are working to collect items with various campus organizations,” Curran said. “We are also working to publicize the garage sale by making brochures and advertising to different groups, like churches.”
Patton said the Scotty’s House facility allows a small maximum number of volunteers because of the small size.
“We need more room in a bigger center, so we can accept more volunteers,” Patton said.
She said a large number of volunteers are needed for their fundraisers. In addition to the garage sale, Scotty’s House organized fundraisers in the past, including a Valentine’s dinner and a Chutes and Ladders baseball tournament.
Scotty’s House provides support to children working under the child advocacy model, Patton said. The model follows a specific process that allows for child rehabilitation and to break the abuse cycle.
The center works closely with law enforcement officials, including Child Protective Services and area police departments, Patton said.
“When a call is made to the police or CPS reporting child abuse, they contact us, and we make an appointment with a law enforcement official and the child,” Patton said. “It is a very specialized process.”
Children are brought to Scotty’s House, where they talk to child forensic interviewers. The interview is filmed so officials can watch without having to be in the room with the child.
“The recording is used by law enforcement in court cases so the child does not have to tell the story over and over,” Patton said.
After the child is interviewed, Scotty’s House provides free counseling. They have an on-site medical room which treats children who have suffered physical and sexual abuse. Children are tested and treated for sexually transmitted diseases, as well.
Patton said that teams working on each abuse case meet frequently to oversee the case and make sure that progress is made.
“The child advocacy model is the best model to break the abuse cycle,” Patton said. “It helps to build cases in order to stop offenders, and has made a significant impact on the community.”
Out of the hundreds of cases Scotty’s House works with each year, 85 percent are cases of sexual abuse, Patton said.
“Four children died last year as a result of injuries from abuse,” Patton said. “This shows that child abuse is a significant problem.”
Patton said the ages of children at Scotty’s House ranges from birth to 17 years old, although there have been special cases.
“The oldest abuse victim we treated was 45 years old, whose mind functioned at the level of an 8 year old,” Patton said. “Many times, people do not see the scope of the problem of child abuse.”
The garage sale will be 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the Keller Williams Realty parking lot on University Drive.
“It’s an incredible cause, and I am really excited to be doing this,” Curran said.
To donate items, contact Scotty’s House through their website, http://www.scottyshouse.org, or Keller Williams Realty at http://www.kw.com/kw.