FALL RIVER, MA — The Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol County, a program of Justice Resource Institute, has received a $250,000 grant from the Bristol County Savings Bank to help create a new agency site to carry out their mission.

The donation kick-starts the agency’s $2.5 million Spreading Our Wings capital campaign. A new home will allow the agency to expand services on behalf of children and families traumatized by sexual abuse, physical abuse, commercial sexual exploitation, child trafficking, drug abuse and violence.

“We seek a sanctuary better suited for the needs of the hundreds of victims who face trauma and abuse each year,” said Executive Director Michelle Loranger. “We have outgrown our current facility and we must expand so that children and families can receive the services they need to begin their healing journeys.”

“We are so grateful for the support of incredible long-time partners like Bristol County Savings Bank, whose generosity enables us to provide immediate help to traumatized children and their families,” Loranger said. “The need for our services continues to grow, and our friends at Bristol County Savings Bank have always been there to ensure we are able to provide immediate help in any of the 20 cities and towns we serve.”

“Bristol County Savings Bank is acutely aware that the CAC works tirelessly to help children and their families through the most traumatic points in their lives and to prevent abuse from occurring through their impactful Education and Outreach Program,” said Michele Roberts, EVP Chief Marketing & Community Relations Officer.  “With this in mind, we are continuing our long standing support of the CAC with a grant toward a new facility to support these deserving children and families.”

The Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol County, which has helped more than 6,200 children and their families over the 12 years since its founding, has been located in its current offices at 58 Arch St. in Fall River since 2012. It needs additional space for the agency’s professional staff to conduct forensic interviews and medical examinations, expand family advocacy and support, provide on-site mental health services and offer education and outreach training about child sexual abuse, exploitation and prevention.

The CAC has seen a 168 percent increase in the number of cases it handles over the past decade — nearly 800 new cases in the past year alone. The agency has hired additional staff and expanded treatment and prevention services to accommodate that growth.

The CAC joined Justice Resource Institute (JRI) in 2017, an agency known for its leadership in social justice. Now the CAC seeks a site with significantly more space to convene multi-disciplinary team members, conduct forensic interviews and provide trauma-informed treatment for children and their families.