Proclamations Reaffirm Community Unity for Child Abuse Prevention
In observance of April as Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness month, BCFS Health and Human Services in Del Rio and Tyler, Texas, participated in citywide proclamations on Friday, April 6, to reaffirm, along with their respective communities, their commitment to work to eliminate child abuse.
BCFS-Tyler accepted an invitation to Smith County’s annual Proclamation Day hosted by the Tyler Independent School District at Mamie G. Griffin Elementary where Tyler Mayor Martin Heines signed the proclamation.
Carla McCalope, BCFS-Tyler Program Director, considers the agency’s participation in the event another opportunity to stand in solidarity with the youth BCFS-Tyler serves.
“On a daily basis we deal with youth who have been affected by child abuse,” McCalope says. “We are there in support of them, the ones that we serve, and also in memoriam of the ones who have lost their lives as a direct result of child abuse.”
For the first time, BCFS Health and Human Services-Del Rio hosted the Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Proclamation Day at the Val Verde County Courthouse. More than 100 blue pinwheels turned in the breeze on the courthouse lawn as U.S. Representative Will Hurd (R-Texas), Texas State Rep. Alfonso “Poncho” Nevarez, Val Verde Judge Efrain Valdez and Del Rio Mayor Robert Garza, each signed congressional, state, county and city proclamations, respectively.
Proclamations will happen in communities across the country all month long as we observe April as National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
