The Bridge Children's Advocacy Center

Will you give today and support Emma's journey toward healing and justice? 

Emma doesn’t feel like Emma anymore.

At 11 years old, Emma should be thinking about art projects, sleepovers, and what she wants to be when she grows up.

Instead, she’s trying to understand something no child should ever have to experience.

Someone Emma knew and trusted has sexually abused her.

She is scared. She is confused. And she doesn’t know how to tell anyone what has happened.

So, Emma keeps it to herself.

But the secret follows her everywhere.

She stops wanting to go to school. Nightmares wake her at night. She pulls away from her family and friends, and the things that once made her laugh no longer seem to matter.

And somewhere along the way, Emma begins to believe a devastating lie:

Maybe it is her fault.

Emma’s mom knows something is wrong. Because she has previously received child abuse prevention and awareness training from The Bridge, she knows how important it is to create a safe space for Emma to talk.

And eventually, through barely held-back tears, Emma tells her mom what has happened.

But telling is only the beginning.

Then Emma comes to The Bridge.

At The Bridge, Emma meets with a trained forensic interviewer who gives her a safe, child-friendly place to tell her story. Her family receives advocacy and support, and Emma begins specialized mental health services to help her heal from the trauma.

For the first time, Emma can begin to understand something she needs to hear:

It's not her fault.

But healing takes time.

Your gift during The Panhandle Gives will help a child like Emma take that first step toward healing.

Your generosity helps provide trained professionals, family support, forensic interviews, and specialized mental health services for children who have experienced abuse.

Will you give today to help a child move from fear to safety, silence to being heard, and trauma to hope?

Give to The Bridge today.

Because stopping the abuse is only the beginning.

Healing is what comes next.

With deep gratitude,
The Bridge Board and Staff

(As a nonprofit agency, The Bridge provides all services, including community education, free of charge.  Our annual budget for providing these services to the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle is $1.9M.  This campaign is a crucial part of our fundraising efforts so that every child receives every service and every effort to find healing and justice.)

***Protecting children's confidential information is critical to the mission of The Bridge.  Emma's persona is shared as an example of what Texas Panhandle children suffer. She is not a real person.***

Who We Are

Your donations help The Bridge achieve its mission to provide a child’s path to healing and justice. Each year The Bridge provides services to more than 1,000 young victims and their families residing in the Texas Panhandle. Our services include forensic interviewing, victim’s assistance and providing community and safety education programs. The overall goal of The Bridge is to help children and their families heal from the trauma of abuse, so the crime does not define their lives.