Holiday 2016: On Location
Welcome back for round two! Here's your intimate behind-the-scenes look at the sophomore issue of the most exciting new magazine in Houston.
Nov. 21, 2016
What is your mission? The Children’s Assessment Center (The CAC) provides healing services to over 6,300 child sexual abuse victims and their families each year. We offer forensic interviewing, family advocacy, mental health services, medical care, and court services at no cost. We facilitate community outreach and prevention training to raise awareness about child abuse in our community and how to keep children safe. Last year, we provided prevention training to over 35,000 community members, including 23,500 children in schools.
Why did you launch the organization? The CAC is the only child advocacy center in Harris County and one of the largest nationwide. Sadly, before the implementation of advocacy centers, there was not a streamlined process for children. Victims of sexual abuse were often interviewed multiple times by various law enforcement, medical professionals, and mental health clinicians. Here at The CAC, we know that having to recount abuse several times can be retraumatizing, and we sought to find a solution to make a trauma-informed process.
The goal of The CAC is to provide all the services, partners, and resources families need in one place. We collaborate with hundreds of professionals from 60 Partner Agencies (e.g., law enforcement, medical and mental health professionals, nonprofits, and governmental investigative entities) to coordinate investigations, provide services, and protect children. Our hope is that our process will give children the tools necessary to empower them on their healing journey.
How have you impacted the community? Our work is guided by the belief that all children in our community deserve to grow up safe, happy, and healthy. We work to empower children’s healing journeys, restore hope in families, and provide support to avoid long-term trauma. The CAC exists to help our community become a better, safer place for each child of Harris County.
Tell us about your big event. We will host our annual Spirit of Spring Gala to celebrate The Children’s Assessment Center Foundation’s 30th anniversary. We are thrilled to invite community members who have helped us make a lasting impact on child sexual abuse survivors, their families, and our community. We look forward to commemorating the 30th year on April 11, 2025, at The Houstonian Hotel.
How can I help? As adults, it is our responsibility to keep children safe. Your generosity can help empower families on their healing journey and protect vulnerable children. Please consider how you can be part of the solution to end child sexual abuse. Go to our website, cachouston.org, to learn how to donate, volunteer, and protect children in our community.
We exist to protect children, heal families, and prevent child sexual abuse and child sex trafficking in our community.
Gayla Gardner, Jacquie Baly and Julie Baker Finck
THE DOCTOR IS in! One of Houston’s most engaged civic leaders, Jacquie Baly, has a new title after earning her Doctorate in Education and Organizational Change & Leadership from USC. And some of the city’s heavy hitters turned up for a swanky reception at Tony’s to congratulate her. “Education and community leadership go hand in hand,” said Dr. Baly. “This honor fuels my continued mission to create meaningful change.”
And they weren’t alone in their admiration. Both the City of Houston and the State of Texas declared the day of the to-do “Dr. Jacquie Baly Day,” complete with official proclamations.
Baly’s doctoral research focused on improving retention and graduation rates for African American college students through mentorship, financial resources, and cultural support.
The doc’s accomplishments in and out of the classroom are impressive, many in the crowd noted. Chair of the Harris County Women’s Commission and a UH prof, Baly has helped secure millions in funding for Texas universities and well as nonprofits such as the American Cancer Society and the YMCA.
Spotted in the crowd: Rosemary Schatzman, Terri Wang, Yvonne Cormier, Julie Baker Finck, Alice Mao Brams, Dexter McCoy, Lesley Briones, Justice Kevin Jewell, Susanna Dokupil, Tonya McLaughlin, Donae Contessa Chramosta, Beth Wolff, Bruce Padilla, Patti Murphy, Beth Muecke, Cheryl Byington, Kim Padgett and Frank Billingsly.
Pitsami Norm, Terri Wang and Thanh Svahn
Mary Sage and Beth Wolff
Kevin Jewell
Terri Wang, James Craig and Rosemary Schatzman
Yvonne Cormier
Alex De Aguiar Reuter, Ann Ayre and Daniel Iron
Houston Arboretum
WE ALL LOVE a Rodeo, but sometimes we need options for events that have a different energy, speed — and crowd size. Check out some artsy, unique happenings around Houston in March!
Work by Jasmine Bousie
The alfresco art festival returns to the streets of Downtown March 29-30. Walk the streets, sidewalk, and grounds of Sam Houston Park along Allen Parkway and enjoy hundreds of artist booths, a craft beer garden, live music, craft stations and more! This year's spring fest features four Houston-area college art students in a special exhibit. Maryam Abdullahi of Houston Community College, Jasmine Bousie of the University of Houston Downtown, Tetzal Cornejo of Rice University, and Ashley Guevara of the University of Houston will debut their artwork while representing their school to showcase and sell their art at Houston's signature art festival.
The migratory path of the Monarch butterfly goes through Texas, and the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center has erected an interactive art installation celebrating the beautiful creature and its habitat! A collection of larger-than-life sculptures by artist Michelle Matthews is located near the Butterfly Bungalow just north of the nature playscape at the Arboretum, which in total is home to more than 600 native plant species. Check it out over Spring Break!
A Houston-based yoga influencer and "handstanding poet" known as the Daily Victorian, Victoria Hutchins is now a published author. The TikTok star (with more than 1.1M followers) celebrates the release of her book, Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again, at Blue Willow Bookshop on March 19. Blue Willow has sold more than 1,000 pre-orders of her book (and counting!), one of its largest, most successful pre-orders ever. Make Believe tells the story of Victoria abandoning her job as a burnt-out corporate lawyer deep in the midst of a spiritual crisis. She rediscovers herself as a creative person and finds her happiness (and provides the same tools for others).
Mardi Gras doesn't have to be over! On March 16, savor Creole fare at Brennan's and enjoy an evening of top-40 rock from the 1960s and '70s courtesy of P.F. & the Flyers. A three-course dinner — salad, creole-stuffed chicken or beef tenderloin, and the famous bananas Foster — is served at first-come-first-served communal tables of 10-12 guests. Doors open at 5:30pm and entertainment begins at 6:30. Rock on!