MT. VERNON —
From one room in the back of a local law office with one employee, the Amy Center has grown in the last 20 years to its own facility on Old Fairfield Road and several employees serving a seven county area.
This week, the center commemorated its anniversary in helping those children who are the victims of sexual abuse, abuse and neglect. The work the center has provided in those years came out of the grief and anger of a father — Dennis Schulz, who turned that rage into an intense desire to not only honor his murdered daughter, Amy, but to help generations of children and protect them as well.
Today, most people in Jefferson County are aware of the Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center but may not be aware of the services and support it offers to youth. The center not only helps and advocates for child victims, but works to prevent youth victims, teaching classes in 27 schools the Good Touch/Bad Touch program. The center staff speak to more than 3,500 students, teachers, parents and the public each year.
Helping those most vulnerable is more than a job for the men and women who serve on the Amy Center Board and work at the facility. It’s a mission near and dear to their hearts.
Congratulations to the Amy Center on its 20 years helping those in our community, and thank you for the work each of you do every day.
Opinion
April 22, 2010
Our View: Helping children for 20 years
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