Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1165

Tonight's special guest is Mary Hall Edwards from Mill Spring, North Carolina, founder of Be A Voice 4 Kids after many years of hiding her own childhood abuse. The mission of Be a Voice 4 Kids is to educate, prevent and heal child abuse through Spiritual strength, peer support and inspiration. The group provides resource referrals, peer support to survivors, peer support to kids and family, prevention education and, of course, hope. After learning that children who were close to her heart were being sexually abused, Mary prayed about standing up for youngsters who had no voice in these situations. According to NAASCA family member Kiesa Kay, "Mary Edwards has been a moving force, bringing education about this social ill to her community and founding this group. She has supported specific education for 100 community members in abuse prevention, and she has offered information and resources at a dozen festivals. She also does one-to-one peer counseling and has been a founder of a survivors' support group. She has been unsinkable in her determination to make the community a safer, healthier place for children and for women hurt as children, too. She is the driving force behind education and information in Polk County, and she has created an organization that could be replicated in other counties. She inspires and strengthens others to end this societal ill, which affects at least one in ten children in our country." Mary's also a Darkness to Light Stewards of Children facilitator. Follow Mary at www.beavoice4kids.vpweb.com