Halloween is here within the week, and you can probably think of 10 things you'd rather do than dredge your fingers through stringy pumpkin innards to prepare one for carving. Well, just relax. The Center for Family Development has come to the rescue with a most tempting idea.
You can buy a designer pumpkin - whimsically decorated by art students from West, Skyline, Bingham, Murray and Cottonwood high schools and some local artists. For a minimum suggested donation of $25, you have a ready-made jack-o'-lantern and the nonprofit Center for Family Development receives a contribution. Since Dan's Food Stores donated the pumpkins (350 this year) and the artists have donated their time and talent, 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the center.To purchase a pumpkin, call the Center for Family Development at 466-8353. Demand has been so great that an extra 50 pumpkins were ordered for last-minute purchases.
Duane Johnson, the center's executive director, is pleased with the success of the pumpkin project. "Our board wanted a unique fund-raiser, something different that set us apart from the usual dinners and silent auctions," he said. There was a worry about trying to get 350 pumpkins decorated, but the art students gladly offered to do the work. "The kids have been quite impressed that their pumpkins are selling for $25 each. Knowing that the funds go to help stop child abuse has given them a good feeling about this," Johnson said.
The Center for Family Development is a not-for-profit agency that treats traumatized victims of all forms of abuse along with their families and the abusers themselves.
Founded in 1981, the center initially treated victims of sexual abuse and was the first agency in Utah for this specific victim treatment. Services have been expanded to include treatment of child and spouse abuse.
After two years as a totally volunteer organization, the center received a grant from the Division of Family Services, Johnson said. The center now receives funding from the Utah Department of Corrections, Salt Lake County and the Greater Salt Lake United Way. This has enabled the center to expand services from one night a week, meeting in churches or schools, to full service in two homes in Salt Lake City that have been remodeled. Seven hundred families, about 2,250 individuals, are treated yearly.
"As we have grown, we've expanded our client population," Johnson said. "Our treatment includes domestic violence, substance abuse and physical abuse of children."
He noted there has been a dramatic increase in physical abuse. "We still have a small-town mentality and haven't realized how quickly we've become an urban area with urban problems," Johnson said. And to complicate matters, he said, the Division of Family Services is overloaded. Treating victims of various crimes is not a role they fulfill. Johnson said victims are frequently unaware of the services offered by the Center for Family Development. "We are a social service agency for low- or no-income clients. We have a sliding fee scale and expect people to work with that. But if someone has no funds, we aren't going to turn them away," he said.
One misperception that the center must address is that victims should just "keep their mouths shut and go on." Johnson said there's almost a collusion in society that goes along with these situations. "People hope that things are going to change," he said. Just as people became aware of sexual abuse in the early '80s, Johnson said that physical abuse is receiving much more attention today. "O.J. Simpson is almost the poster child in bringing this (abuse) to people's consciousness," he said.
The therapists at the Center for Family Development believe that abuse that is not treated can lead to depression and anxiety. Often people will turn to drugs or alcohol or destructive relationships. Through treatment, families can be restored despite the abuse that has occurred. "We are responsive to the needs of the community," Johnson said.
Readers can send news about volunteer organizations for the Helping You feature to Karen Boren, Deseret News, P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110, or via e-mail to (karen@desnews.com).