Category: Child Advocacy Center of Galveston County

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Online Safety Tips for Parents from NetSmartz

With so many schools starting back online, the folks at NetSmartz have stated that it’s more important than ever that children understand how to be safe and responsible digital citizens and we couldn’t agree more!

They have provided a couple of different options:

If you want your child to be at the helm of their online safety learning PDFs are now fillable for students’ typed responses and suggestions have been made for how to submit artistic and creative assignments to teachers and classmates.  https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/netsmartz/downloadable/using-into-the-cloud-at-home.pdf

For teachers, there are two new presentations, “Teaching Modern Safety with Into the Cloud” now available for grades K-2 and 3-5. Easy to adapt for a real time screencast/webinar style lesson, or to record asynchronous learning!

K-2nd Grade https://go.missingkids.org/e/808593/20Into20the20Cloud-K-2-508-zip/n5zf/42818828?h=_NlU3x7w4lWJja7QJNsBUUbOWFT67XqBPJMCJoSd3E8

3rd-5th Grade https://go.missingkids.org/e/808593/20Into20the20Cloud-3-5-508-zip/n5zh/42818828?h=_NlU3x7w4lWJja7QJNsBUUbOWFT67XqBPJMCJoSd3E8

Parents can’t be monitoring their children online all the time, but there are some great questions to ask if you watch season 1 (~30 minutes) of Into the Cloud with your child, then read about the safety issues addressed in the episodes, and talk through the discussion questions.

For older children and teens, you can download the “Your Photo Fate” Discussion guide and get step-by-step instructions, conversation starters, and advice on how to talk to teens about healthy relationships and sexting. 
Some great tips “Internet Safety at Home” will help with some practical suggestions.

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A sad farewell to our champion Carol Miller Odorizzi

We are saddened by the loss of Carol Miller Odorizzi who was a passionate champion for children in Galveston County, a long time former Board member, volunteer and generous supporter of The Advocacy Center. We grieve her passing, but the legacy she leaves is one that will continue to live on in the work we do. We are so grateful that she chose to spend so much of her love and energy helping the children in our community

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We miss you Weezy

It is with great sadness we want to share that on October 6th 2019, Louise Pound lost her three year battle with cancer. She worked here at the Advocacy Center for over 24 years, fighting for the rights of victims. Galveston County has lost an amazing advocate for the children and families we serve! We  are so grateful that her light shone in our part of the world, we miss you Weezy.71521912_10157383219201142_178837529057820672_n 71894251_10157383219251142_3138013723340308480_n

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You will be missed Nate

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We are so incredibly sad about the news of our very good friend Nate Pacini’s passing. Nate was a champion of the center and the children we serve,. Whenever there was an opportunity to serve, he was there, generous in spirit and humble in nature. Ready to join the fight but not wanting any of the spotlight. He never wanted anyone to know what he gave and it was always from the heart. We love you Nate, we will miss you terribly and never forget you. Our love and thought are with his wife Diana, the rest of his many friends and family. Galveston will never be the same.

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Girl Talk with Girl Scout Green Starlettes

On Saturday, our Community Education Coordinator, Candy Hattingh joined forces with The Girl Scout Green Starlettes, Amber Wilhelm with The Resource Crisis Center of Galveston County and Kerri Taylor with UnBound for a Prevention Megathon! The afternoon was incredibly powerful as the girls learned about healthy relationships, dating violence, human trafficking and the tricks that are used on young women, sexting, cyberbullying among a few things! The girls were called to be sentinels and upliftHers and we are excited about doing this again very soon! Thank you Theresa Alexander with The Green Starlettes for initiating this and seeing it through, the girls, Directors and parents participating were absolutely phenomenal!

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2019 Calendars on sale for $10!

calendars on sale

Support our programs and services by buying a 2019 calendar today for only $10 for you or someone you love (or like) (or both!). Features wonderful artwork from the winners of our 2018 Island Life Children’s Art Competition!
We only have 24 left!
Please see payment options by clicking on this link:

http://www.galvestoncac.org/support-us/payment-options/

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Successful Day with GCSO and Beat the Heat!

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Beat The Heat hosted a Motorsports Expo at the Kemah Boardwalk on November 17th to raise some money for the Advocacy Center for Children! We were so blessed to spend a near perfect Saturday with Lt. Tommy Hansen with Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and his Tropical Impression Racing Team as well as all the amazing men and women who participated in the Motorsports Expo fundraiser at Kemah Boardwalk. The event was an absolute success and all proceeds were donated to us! We are so grateful that we got to see these impressive vehicles and spend time with all the generous souls who chose to be a part of this! Thank you♥

Congratulations to Kevan Cram for placing #1 and Brian Gallagher for placing #2 and #3!

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A huge thank you to all those who supported our 8th Annual Golf Tournament!

Thumbs up to all

To all our players, teams, sponsors, volunteers we are so grateful for your support and generosity, making our fundraiser successful!

Our teams included Moody Bank, Diamond Jim’s Country Saloon, Remax Leading Edge, La Marque Police Association who paid for their Police Department, Jack Roady’s “Legal Eagles”, Nate Pacini’s “Nate’s West End”, Hometown Bank, Zone 504, Aspen’s Bar and Grill, Daryl’s Place, T-Bone Toms/ Tookies who ALSO catered our event and it was delicious, Walmart Galveston who donated all the water and Gatorade and had a team “Wallie World”, NVision who also sponsored a silent auction  item and were major contributors to our silent auction, winning 3/11,the fabulous Paul Winton, Galveston Police Department Family Services Unit and “Areefa Franklin Charters”.

To all sponsors of silent auction items we are so grateful for your support and we had some very lucky and happy winners!

A shout out to Undefeated MC who champion our cause and support what we do. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.

And last, but not least, to our volunteers, Schelli Slocumb, Renee Templar and Kristin Bingley, thank you for graciously giving of your time and energy to support our cause. We couldn’t have done it with you!

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We all have a role in stopping abuse

Once again, child sexual-abuse allegations have people everywhere shaking their heads in disbelief. Anger and frustration fill the airwaves, news columns, and blogs with questions like “How did this happen?” and “How did it go unreported for so long?”

“Stranger danger” has often been overemphasized by those who would keep children safe from predators. While studies have shown that one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused by the age of 18, the sad truth is that 90 percent of victims know the offenders well. They are relatives, friends, neighbors, and, as alleged in the Penn State case, coaches.

Understanding what keeps child victims of sexual abuse silent is easy. They fear that revealing the abuse will bring harm to them or those they love, loss of affection, and punishment. Child sexual abuse is a crime that thrives in a climate of silence, secrecy, and shame. Fear is what offenders count on as they groom their victims.

What is not so easily explained is the silence of adult witnesses to such crimes. But if the problem is a lack of information about how to report such abuse and what will happen as a result, we must make sure that information is more widely known and understood. To report suspected child abuse, call 1-800-252-5400.

When a report of child sexual abuse is made to the police or the Department of Human Services in Texas, there is a partnership in place to ensure the abuse ends, that the child has a safe place to talk about what happened, and that the child and his or her family get all the services they need to start healing. The Advocacy Center for Children of Galveston County, a nonprofit child advocacy center that responds to allegations of abuse, is part of that partnership.

It is easy to feel powerless and overwhelmed in the face of the headlines. It is harder to turn our anger and frustration into positive action for victimized children.

Here is one positive action we can all agree on. Make a pledge to end the silence. Raise your right hand and repeat after me: “If I see, hear, suspect, or in any way become aware that a child is being abused, I will not keep silent. I will have the courage to help that child break free of the silence, secrecy, and shame that should never define a child’s life.”

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