Last year was a trying time in our country and the trickle-down effect of the health pandemic hit non-profit organizations especially hard. This was true for Charlotte-based Pat’s Place Child Advocacy Center; an organization Lost Worlds has closely supported since we opened. We believe the more our Lost Worlds community knows about Pat’s Place and the advocacy work they do for children, the better educated we are to help.

Pat’s Place assists in the coordination of criminal and child welfare investigations and provides forensic and advocacy services to children who have experienced or witnessed serious child abuse, domestic violence, and familial or community homicides in Mecklenburg County.

According to Lori Avery, Chief Development Officer for Pat’s Place, during the first months of the health pandemic, our community experienced a 40-60 percent reduction in child abuse reporting.

“As schools and the state returned to more normal operations, we experienced a surge of children referred to Pat’s Place,” says Avery. In March 2021, Pat’s Place saw a record number of children for forensic interviews and medical care, the most cases seen during one month since opening our doors in 2005. It is believed that the increase in physical abuse cases, and the severity of other cases referred is a result of children having been at home in unsafe circumstances, often in close proximity with their abuser for over a year.

The number slowly increased and is now back to pre-pandemic rates, but Pat’s Place needs the community’s help to continue to serve children the Charlotte area.

Decreased Government Funding

“While we continue to navigate the COVID-19 health pandemic, Pat’s Place is facing a significant budget shortfall due to our state’s reduction in federal VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) awards to child advocacy centers (from $15M to $5M),” says Avery.

Starting in October 2021, Pat’s Place’s two-year funding allocation is being reduced 67 percent, from $1.15M to only $438,000. A federal VOCA Fix Act has passed but child advocacy centers will not see this impact until 2023.

“Pat’s Place is in need of financial assistance to help bridge the gap in funding over the next two years,” added Avery.

How You Can Help

Lori Avery, Chief Development Officer, helps distribute BBQ at the Lost Worlds in 2020

Statistics prove that there is an urgent need to support children in our community. Over the last two years, the number of children referred for physical abuse nearly doubled (from 68 to 122), and Pat’s Place has seen an 64% increase in referrals since 2014.

You can help by:

Making a financial contribution. Click here to donate.
Eating BBQ! That’s right. Click here to order a family meal pack from Midwood Smokehouse for pick up at Lost Worlds (or Pat’s Place) on September 17th. If you’d like to add Lost Worlds Beer to your oder, click here.
Visiting the resources available on the Pat’s Place website for educational materials and videos on how to recognize signs of physical and sexual child abuse.

More about Pat’s Place

Pat’s Place has been supporting children and their families for over 16 years. Pat’s Place is one of over 800 child advocacy centers across the United States and abroad that provides all the support children and families need after a report of severe child abuse has been made to our partners in law enforcement and/or the Department of Social Services. The child advocacy center model is both effective and efficient, while using best practice methods to ensure care and support are provided in a victim-centered environment.

Pat’s Place focuses the resources of investigative and partner agencies under one roof to achieve the best outcome for children who have experienced the most serious forms of abuse. Program services include Family Advocacy, Forensic Interviews, Medical Evaluation, Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) coordination, Outreach and Education, Trauma Therapy, and Human Trafficking Response coordination. All services are provided at no cost to a child’s family.

Pat's Place Needs Us