Christmas is meant to be a time of joy, generosity and caring. But for too many children living with abuse and neglect, Christmas will be yet another day living with fear, intimidation and violence.
While we are making plans with friends and family, buying presents and enjoying the festive season, it is easy to forget that some children are, in fact, fearful of Christmas coming. Many of these vulnerable kids wish they could skip Christmas every year.
The sad fact is one child is abused or neglected every 12 minutes. And these statistics are getting worse.
Sometimes Act for Kids is the only hope these kids have.
Josh was only 5 years old when he first came to Act for Kids. He showed symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after watching his father brutally stab his mother. He was constantly on edge, frightened and scared. Josh had retreated into himself and was suffering in silence. It took a few weeks before Josh could trust our therapist or even talk about what had happened to him.
It takes a long time to make abused and neglected children feel safe again but at Act for Kids we are here to help, and we wont stop until we know the kids we see feel safe again. Are you able to help this Christmas? Will you donate now and give a child the gift of hope?
Joshs mother barely escaped with her life that night and the horror of what Josh witnessed caused him to suffer horrific nightmares long after the family was safe. Unable to deal with the distressing images he had seen, Josh relived the horrific trauma night after night. His mother would find him shaking, screaming and sobbing in his bed.
That was three months ago. Now Josh and his whole family are being cared for by our dedicated and supportive therapists, and are making great progress. You can read his full story here.
Kids like Josh are indebted to people like you. It is only through your previous generosity that we can provide the vital services and care for these children. Thank you for taking away Joshs nightmares and for giving him his childhood back.
This Christmas, please think of these kids and join others who are helping to give abused and neglected kids and their families the gift of hope.