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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 20, 2004 Children�s Advocacy Center volunteer Nancy Meyer stands in a roomful of toys that will be given to children at Christmas. She and other volunteers advocate for children who are victims of physical and sexual abuse. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Hometown hero: She helps abused kids regain trust By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune Volunteers at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Medford say the hardest part of their work is looking into the eyes of a child who has been hurt and betrayed by someone he loved and trusted. Their greatest joy is seeing that child regain some measure of the trust and faith that was lost through physical or sexual abuse. Volunteer Nancy Meyer says 700 to 800 children come through the advocacy center’s doors annually. Ranging in age from 1 to 17, 90 percent of the children have been sexually abused. "It’s awful, the hurt in their eyes," says Meyer, 66. "Most think they brought (the abuse) on themselves. We try to get them to understand, and to find that trust again." A former Court Appointed Special Advocates volunteer in the Columbia River Gorge area, Meyer says her move to Medford four years ago was only a change in location, not avocation. Advertisement She continues to try to help children believe their lives can be safe and happy again. Meyer says advocacy center volunteers, like CASA, are specially trained to advocate for children. While CASA follows the children through the courts, advocacy center volunteers coordinate resources for the children and their families outside the court system and follow kids for up to a year after the initial contact. "They (CASA) are the child’s voice in the courts," says Meyer. "We are creating a haven. Hopefully one with a lot of comfort." The center has been carefully designed to provide a warm and welcoming homelike environment, with overstuffed furniture, warm paint colors, murals and plenty of toys. The center provides coordinated services for a child from the moment abuse is reported. Here the children receive medical treatment, are interviewed by plain-clothed policemen, appear before a grand jury and undergo therapy, all in a non-traumatic environment. "Some of the kids come from very difficult circumstances," Meyer says. "And when they come in here, their eyes just light up. Some of them want to stay forever." Meyer says she likes to share her life experiences to help bring a light to those kids’ eyes. She spent much of her 46-year marriage traveling with her now-retired Air Force husband, David. "We lived all over," she says. One of the places Meyer landed afforded her an opportunity to be host of a television talk show. She interviewed such notables as Pearl S. Buck, Maria Von Trapp, Nelson Rockefeller and Kate Smith. Meyer says Von Trapp’s life story, on which "The Sound of Music" is based, is particularly inspiring. Meyer says she doesn’t avoid the realities of the children’s abuse, but tries to help the kids focus on the positive. "They know I’m aware of it," says Meyer. "But we don’t get too much into the trauma. I try to put some positives back in their life. I encourage them. I try to give them a balance and show them where they can go and what they can do." Meyer helps more than her share of children through that painful transition, says CAC volunteer coordinator Jackie Ralph. "We all have more cases than we should," says Ralph. "We have 14 volunteers, and we could use 20 or 30." Meyer has volunteered more than 600 hours to the center in the past three years. She actively advocates for 38 children. And there are more children coming each week. "We’re supposed to drop them after a year," says Meyer. "But I get involved and stay with them for a long time. That’s why I have so many." Advocating for children is a passion and a privilege, she says. "When they tell you that you’ve helped them, when the parents or guardian calls to tell you what you’ve meant to a child’s life, that’s your reward," says Meyer. The Children’s Advocacy Center is at 816 W. 10th St., Medford. Call 734-5437 or e-mail www.cac4kids.us . Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail [email protected] . Do you know someone who’s a Hometown Hero? The first to volunteer when a school or a local family needs help, or someone who has risked his personal safety or financial security to help someone else? Submit suggestions to Mail Tribune reporter Sanne Specht via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 776-4497. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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