♪ I see trees of green ♪
♪ Red roses too ♪
- [Child] Flowers need lots of stuff to grow.
They need sunshine
and water
and dirt
and lots of love.
♪ And I think to myself ♪
But sometimes, flowers don't get that stuff.
Sometimes people forget to water them.
Sometimes they get stepped on.
Sometimes bad people try to cut them down.
♪ I see skies ♪
- [Woman] No child should have to go through abuse.
A child should always be a child,
happy to run around, happy to play,
happy to smile, be loved.
And some children do not have that.
♪ What a wonderful world ♪
(light guitar music)
- The Children's Advocacy Center is a one-stop shop
where children come in for abuse investigation.
- It's a place where families can come
and get justice for what's going on.
It's where they can come to get counseling,
to get services,
to get medical exams,
forensic interviews.
- Everything's in one place,
so families don't have to
go to different places
to get the help that they need.
- We have staff that have had
experience working with children
and are very, very passionate about what they do.
So when they do meet with the child,
they're able to comfort that child.
- Some of the children that come to us
on their worst days are in a state
where it's probably very hard for them to speak,
and that's where our expertise comes in.
To be able to ensure that a child is comfortable
and that their voice is heard.
- [Rich] Being able to call together
a team of professionals,
the best in their field,
to come and protect our children
here in Central Florida,
is incredible.
If they didn't exist or
if they weren't here readily available,
we'd lose crucial evidence in the case.
We wouldn't be able to get justice for some of these kids.
- We come together as a team
to make sure that our families
get the proper level of care
so that our families can go from
being victims to being victors
over the sexual and physical abuse
that they have experienced.
It's important for the children
to go through the healing process,
so that they don't have to carry the pain
through the rest of their lives.
Therapy is not about
the child forgetting what happened to them
because that's not going to happen.
Therapy is about them overcoming
and working through what happened to them.
♪ But he'll never break you, baby ♪
One of the things that makes me want to help children
is that one: they didn't ask to be abused.
And two: that they're so resilient
and that they can get better with the right help.
- The children come to us broken.
They look almost like wilted flowers.
The child hasn't had water,
hasn't had fertilizer,
hasn't had sun for a long time.
This team's able to be that.
This team is able to give it water,
give it fertilizer, give it love.
♪ The hands of God were bigger ♪
And at the end of the process,
you can see the flower again blooming up.
And, the child is a kid again.
♪ Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh oh ♪
- To see a child thriving and healthy and happy
with big smiles on their face
is probably the most rewarding part of our jobs.
- I don't wear a cape,
I don't have an S on my chest.
But at the end of the day,
when these kids come up,
and they look us right in the face and they smile,
and they thank us for what we've done,
that makes us the superhero for the day.
♪ The love you feel is stronger ♪
- When a child leaves the Children's Advocacy Center.
I want them to know that they were heard.
I want them to know that they have a voice,
that they should use it.
And I want them to feel strength in that.
And I want them to feel brave.
Because what they did was brave.
- [Child] Special thanks to the Dr. Phillips Charities
for their support of the Children's Advocacy Center.
(slow piano music)