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Finally, A Place For Children In Crisis

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By STEVE OTTO

sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: October 15, 2008

There was a full moon out last night. I checked the almanac to see if it was one of those "once in a blue" moons, but it was not.

That was something of a surprise, considering that we are about to do something first-class for children in this town and that happens about once in one of those proverbial blue moons.

It is going to be called Mary Lee's House and it is on Armenia Avenue, about a block south of Columbus Drive. "House" is not an adequate word for this place.

It is a 30,000-square-foot, two-story, Mediterranean-style building with a price tag of $6 million. Its official title is a Child Protection and Advocacy Center and it is designed to bring together criminal justice, medical, mental health, social service and case management services. The grand opening is set for Oct. 29.

To appreciate it even more, it helps to know where we've been and what we are as a community.

Each year there are more than 15,000 cases of child sexual or physical abuse reported in Hillsborough County. More than 3,200 cases are confirmed, although experts suggest both of those numbers are only the tip. Someone gave me the statistic that one in four girls in this country is sexually or physically abused before she is 16. I don't know where that number came from, but, if it is even close, think about what that means for our society.

Center Long Overdue

For way too long we've buried these numbers or chosen not too look at them all that closely. In a country where we all know batting averages or the price of gas at the pump, numbers like these seem less important.

I remember not too many years ago going to Hillsborough County's crisis center on Henry Street. The center for abused children was in a double-wide trailer.

Mary Lee's House has been on the drawing board for years.

The "Mary Lee" here is Mary Lee Farrior. Her name is going on the facility because of a $1 million gift, but she needs more credit than that. For years she helped fund and operate a counseling and advocacy center for children in South Tampa. "We knew then we were limited in the services we could offer," she says.

Four years ago the Administrative Office of the Courts received funding from the state to put together a task force to begin work on building a new advocacy center. Volunteer groups, headed by the Junior League, came into the picture. A private, nonprofit organization was put together and by this July it had raised more than 75 percent of the money for the entire project.

Agencies Join For Children

Once the facility is open, operations are expected to be paid for by rent from the agencies that will be together in the building, including the sheriff's office, the police department, the state attorney, Hillsborough Kids Inc., the 13th Judicial Circuit, Children's Justice Center, Healthy Start, the Crisis Center, the public defender, USF's Child Protection Team and the Children's Board.

It's an impressive group that put this together, with people like J. Rex Farrior, Candy Olson from the school board, builder Tom Azzarelli, the Outback's Chris Sullivan, the New York Yankees, and Jim Ferman involved. Their director, Peg Reese, came in by way of an ill wind named Katrina that drove her from New Orleans.

The Mary Lee House is based on a model used in several other Florida cities and should provide comprehensive investigation, prosecution and treatment, all in a safe and secure environment for these battered children.

I just know it's about time.

Keyword, Otto Graphs, to read and comment on Steve Otto's blog.

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