The Rock Island County Children’s Advocacy Center will hold an open house (734 20^th St., Rock Island) on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. to show off its newly renovated space.

The center received a grant from the city of Moline to enhance their services (to all of Rock Island County), which allowed the nonprofit to remodel space in the building’s basement to expand therapy services, according to a news release.

The mission of the Children’s Advocacy Center is to reduce trauma that child victims experience from sexual and physical abuse. “We achieve this by utilizing a multidisciplinary team approach to investigations, along with providing advocacy, prevention, therapy and counseling services,” the center release says.

Therapist Jamie Roggenbauer said they’re in the process of finishing up some last details before the open house, so they couldn’t share current pictures of the renovated space. “The open house will be the perfect opportunity to come and see the finished product,” she said.

All children (who are under age 18) are referred by law enforcement or the Department of Children and Family Services to be interviewed at the center about the abuse. The purpose is to coordinate and track the investigations, medical treatment, counseling referrals, prosecution and training in order to protect the best interest of the victims and their families.

In the last fiscal year, they conducted 265 interviews of abused children. The center provided follow-up services for 65% of families that were seen at the center.

At the Feb. 29 open house, you can learn more about what the center does. For more information, visit its website HERE.