Walton County Pierce Family Children’s Advocacy Center nearing completion
…Second Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center to open April 8
Seagrove Beach, FL (February 15, 2016)…Contractors and construction workers are diligently working away to complete the new Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center (ECCAC) facility in DeFuniak Springs in Walton County, Florida. It is slated to open April 8th and will be the second ECCAC location, along with their original Niceville Center in Okaloosa County. ECCAC is one 501-C-3 organization, soon to be operating two Centers. All to create a child-friendly environment, interior finishes are well underway in the 15,000 square foot building revealing bright, cheerful colors, a yellow brick road in the courtyard, and a hanging hot air balloon will soon hang in the lobby made by art students at Northwest Florida State College. ECCAC serves abused children and their families in a neutral environment. The new Center will staff 45 offices in four wings to include a Welcome Wing, Intervention Wing, Justice Wing and Healing Wing. A multidisciplinary team of child protection personnel, prosecutors, law enforcement, DCF, therapists, and ECCAC staff and volunteers will be working there. Companies and individuals can contribute to the Center by sponsoring various rooms. Each sponsor will be recognized with a plaque affixed in a prominent position outside the sponsored room. “We are so appreciative of the community and their generous support,” said the Center’s CEO, Julie Hurst. “To date, we have sold Adopt-A-Room sponsorships for twenty of the forty rooms and we are standing at $2.3 million raised towards the $3 million needed in our capital campaign for the Walton County Pierce Family Children’s Advocacy Center.
Mark your calendar for the grand opening of our DeFuniak Springs Center on April 8 from 10 am to noon. The public is invited to attend and tour the new facility. To actually see the Center is to understand what we do to help the children.”
ECCAC’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect, protect children in Okaloosa and Walton Counties, and restore the lives and futures of these impacted children. In their 15-year history over 10,000 children have received mental health services and over 20,000 direct services have been provided to the children and their families. Services are provided at no cost by the non-profit organization.
For further information about the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center, or to make a donation, visit www.eccac.org or call 850-892-0280. If abuse is suspected, call the anonymous Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE.
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