SPRINGDALE - It’s not that easy for Gracie Ziegler to characterize what her volunteer experiences at the Economic Opportunity Agency of Washington County Inc. Children’s House have been like.
“It’s amazing,” Ziegler says. “You can’t bottle it, you can’t really describe what it is. It’s just so powerful to see these little kids. They don’t maybe necessarily know that something bad was happening to them.”
Ziegler describes an incident told to her by the people who work with theabused and neglected children who fill the agency’s Children’s House. Upon being told that it was nap time, a brother and sister went around the room, attempting to put tape over the mouths of all the children. Because that’s what had been done to them, they believed this was normal.
Ziegler shares this story not to shock, but as an example of the sorts of things frequently done to children before they come to the house.
“We’ve been reaching out to a younger age group [of supporters], getting them involved with how Children’s House affects their whole community, and how domestic violence and child abuse really does affect all of us,” says Ziegler, a customer development manager for convenience stores with Tyson Foods Inc.
For the second consecutive year, Ziegler is chairman of the agency’s largest annual fundraiser. The 11th annual Summer Salsa benefit will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Fayetteville Town Center. Tickets are $75, and include drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres.
The event has moved to the town center, Ziegler says,because interest has grown. Last year’s Summer Salsa drew 280 people, and she says the “stretch goal” is 350 this time around.
“It’s a casual, fun summer event - just get out of the heat and come in and dance the night away, basically,” Ziegler says. “The way they do everything here [at Children’s House] is communal, like open-table seating, and I think [Summer Salsa] is a good fit.”
That communal style is how things work at Children’s House too, with meals served family-style, at the same time and same place every day.Consistency is important when working with abused and neglected children, as it builds a level of trust that allows them to progress, Ziegler says.
Children’s House opened in 1978 in Fayetteville, in a facility that was less than 5,000 square feet. In 2011, it moved to its current location in Springdale, The Pat Walker Center for Children, which is 24,158 square feet. (The old house was small enough to fit insidethe new one’s cafeteria.)
With the additional space, Children’s House has been able to take in more children, from as young as 6 weeks up to 5 years. In its previous location, the youngest children accepted were 18 months.
The goal is to provide a safe, secure environment for children who are the survivors of abuse and neglect. Counselors provide mental-health and speech therapies, some of which were not available prior to the move.
Ziegler says the new location helps the volunteers and employees at Children’s House prepare the children for public school.
“I’d [volunteered] at the old building, and while there was a lot of love on the inside of it, there was not on the outside,” Ziegler says. “I grew up in Fayetteville, and so I know all about the great schools here. You don’t have those opportunities [if you’re not] growing up in a secure household. We want to help kids get all the advantages out of our school system. That’s very important.” For more information about EOA Children’s House or Summer Salsa, call (479) 872-7479 or visit childrenshousenwa.org.
Northwest Profile, Pages 33 on 06/23/2013