Capital Campaign funds answered prayer for Davis House
FRANKLIN, TN – Davis House Child Advocacy Center’s Board Chair Jaclyn Ledbetter announced the launch of the most significant capital campaign in the non-profit’s history to fund the construction of the first built-to-purpose child advocacy center in Williamson County.
Ledbetter described the new location, a 9,100 square foot building located at 140 Southeast Parkway Court in Franklin, as “an answered prayer” to their needs. With the lease of its current space estimated to triple upon the next renewal, the non-profit recognized the need for a more reliable, long-term solution – a permanent home through ownership.
“The Brightstone building could not have come onto the market at a better time. We needed a larger, reconfigurable space in which we could grow and continually expand our services, and we needed the space to be in a discreet location and close to the county seat for the privacy and convenience of the families we serve,” says Ledbetter. “We expected a long, exhaustive search. The building immediately checked off all the boxes.”
Davis House provides comprehensive, coordinated, and compassionate services for all reported cases of child sexual abuse or significant physical abuse in Williamson, Hickman, Lewis, and Perry counties. At no cost to the families, Davis House served 632 new child victims last year.
Davis House also provides child sexual abuse prevention and awareness training to children, youth, and adults. At no cost, Davis House trained 2,239 individuals last year.
The $4.5 million capital campaign, “From a House to a Home,” seeks to place the non-profit in its first permanent home since its founding in 1999 by the late District Attorney General Ronald L. Davis who, along with others in the community, sought to provide a safe, child-focused environment to support families reporting child sexual abuse – a child advocacy center.
According to the National Children’s Alliance, “Without a CAC, the child may end up having to tell the worst story of his or her life over and over again – to doctors, cops, lawyers, therapists, investigators, judges, and others. They may have to talk about that traumatic experience in a police station where they think they might be in trouble or may be asked the wrong questions by a well-meaning teacher or other adult that could hurt the case against the abuser.”
“Our move into this building will be the culmination of a vision that Davis had and that all child advocacy centers hold dear,” said Carolyn Evans, Executive Director at Davis House, “which is to put all services related to supporting a child victim and their family members under one roof.”
A portion of the capital campaign funds will be used to renovate the building into a state-of-the-art child advocacy center in strategically planned phases. The remaining portion of the funds will be used to pay the $3 million mortgage in full.
“For the first time in our history, we get to intentionally build out a child advocacy center rather than simply put a child advocacy center in a building,” shared Ledbetter. “This means having a space designed to meet the unique needs of the services we provide and how we mean to provide them: child-focused and trauma-informed. Most importantly, Davis House will finally have a home.”
The renovated building will be thoughtfully designed to provide Davis House’s full suite of services while being mindful of their foremost priority – supporting families in crisis. There will be specific pathways and spaces for those on a first visit, for those returning for ongoing support and therapy, and for those onsite as community partners or for prevention training.
The design will include new features to support animal-assisted treatment, a sensory room designed to help children move past trauma by learning how to regulate their senses and emotions, and a backyard healing garden.
The building will include a safe room to provide emergency housing and respite for rescued child victims of human trafficking.
Davis House invites the community to join them at their current location on Thursday, July 27th from 11:00AM to 1:00PM to kick off their capital campaign and learn more. Location is 1810 Columbia Ave, Suite 28, in Franklin, TN,behind Rolling Hills Community Church.
Opportunities to support their campaign include cash gifts, planned giving, corporate sponsorships, and naming opportunities. Gifts may be multi-year pledges.
For more information on how to get involved with the campaign, visit www.davishousecac.org/housetohome.
Contact:
Sam Cosby
Director of Advancement
Davis House Child Advocacy Center
(615) 790-5900 ext 104
