Bridge Builders Campaign
Bridge Builders exemplifies the remarkable team of agencies that make up the Children’s Advocacy Center to ensure all legal, medical and emotional needs of child-victims and families are met.
Bridge Builders are critical to our Project GOLD program for sex trafficking survivors, and especially needed for our new job skills and career planning initiative geared to helping girls find their strengths for healthy, productive futures in the workforce.
We also serve as Bridge Builders to the next generation of young leaders like our board chair Kara Zeder Rosen who understands the critical importance of Kristi House, and are taking a stand for Kristi House with vision and purpose.
PROGRAMMATIC NEEDS
New Master’s Level Therapist
Our Therapists’ caseloads are currently well above best practice thresholds, so we are looking to add a new position to join our team of 17 clinicians. Total needed: $50,000
Education & Outreach Specialist
Annual salary and benefits for an educator to provide classes and training programs for children and adults. Total needed: $45,000
Project GOLD Client Drivers
These mobile counselors pick up teenage girls in the afternoons to enable them to participate in education and enrichment programs and services to overcome sex trafficking and restore their lives. Total needed: $35,000 x 2
CAPACITY BUILDING & INFRASTUCTURE NEEDS
Salary Bumps for Front Line Staff
Kristi House is a highly desirable place to work. When staff losses do occur, the cause is usually due to an increase in pay, not due to a better position or promotion. To retain our exceptional staff and avoid costly turnover both in terms of productivity and client relations, Kristi House management has a goal of raising $150,000 toward this effort.
New Air Conditioning System for Kristi House’s Child Advocacy Center
Built in 1999, our Child Advocacy Center’s AC system has been repaired and refurbished a number of times…and is in need of total replacement. Total needed: $50,000
Website Redesign…
to incorporate resources for adults and kids, parents and professionals in English and Spanish. A highly talented web programmer has been retained who has begun the project with an expected finish by October 2019. Total needed: $4,500
Sales Force Customer Management System…
has been identified as the ideal tool for Kristi House’s growing Development unit. Total needed: $5,000
Professional Development and Team Building.
Kristi House continually invests in its staff, however, in fiscally tight times, all resources are devoted to clients over internal needs. Support is needed to ensure staff can take advantage of training and continuing education opportunities as they arise throughout the year. In addition, a daylong, team-building retreat is sought for staff to boost morale, enhance comradery and strengthen interdepartmental communication. Anticipated need: $5,000-$10,000
Video Production…
geared to potential supporters to help spread the word about Kristi House and its services. Total needed: $12,500
Calling All Bridge Builders!
Kristi House CEO Amanda Altman created our newest fundraising initiative called Bridge Builders. It outlines strategic priorities and goals for programs, capacity development, and infrastructure. The campaign looks to expand our reach and grow our work, building a metaphorical bridge to hope, healing, and a safer future for our children.
Near bustling Downtown Miami, Kristi House headquarters are idyllic, and a place of refuge for many. Inside, it’s abuzz with activity. Dozens are engaged on the frontlines, committed to eradicating child abuse and child sex trafficking. We work closely with a team of agencies to ensure all legal, medical and emotional needs of child-victims and families are met throughout Miami-Dade County (a population of 2.7 million). In addition, we run five satellite offices and the Project GOLD Drop In Center. At a time where a child abuse report is made every 10 seconds in the United States,[1] demand for our services remains high.
The good news is at Kristi House we know what works to heal children from sexual abuse trauma, as well as other forms of child trauma. The challenge is that need for services is outpacing supply, and public funding sources are limited, even for innocent victims of crime.
Research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has shown that the lifetime cost of the long-term effects of untreated child abuse is $210,012 per victim. However, it costs Kristi House only $5,000 to provide a child and his/her family with therapy, advocacy and education. A $5,000 investment saves our community $210,012 over the life of the child.
We will dedicate funds raised by Bridge Builders to strategically growing our team, increasing front line staff compensation, and providing for facility improvements, professional development, and more. We invite you to direct specifically where your donation dollars will go or provide a gift to be applied where needed most.
The goal is to raise $100,000. It’s a target that deserves supporting! Any amount is welcome, as we work together to turn the tide on sexual abuse and child trauma, and build the bridge to a better tomorrow.