Businesses give to Hero House
MOULTRIE, Ga. — A local business challenged 10 of its peers to help support Hero House, Colquitt County’s child advocacy center. On Friday, those businesses presented a check for $4,731 to the agency.
Hero House performs forensic interviews and medical examinations of abused children to collect evidence to help law enforcement prosecute their abusers. The interviews are conducted by civilians with special training. The medical examinations are performed by nurses who also have training specific to sexual assault cases. Last year they served 127 Colquitt County children.
Dani Mobley learned about Hero House when she started volunteering with the United Way of Colquitt County. The child advocacy center is one of about 20 nonprofits that receive funding from the United Way’s annual campaign.
Mobley operates The City Southern, a “popup coffee cart,” out of her home. She decided to donate 10% of her sales in April to Hero House — and she reached out to 10 other businesses to match her donation.
“They said, ‘What you make your check out for, we’ll make ours out for,’” Mobley said.
She called her project “10×10,” referencing 10 businesses giving 10%. She wanted to limit participation so she could do it again and again without wearing out her welcome.
An 11th business owner, who hadn’t been asked but didn’t want to be left out, chipped in too, she said.
In the end, participants included The City Southern, Freedom Logistics, The Flossy Peach, Harrison Designs, IFCO Seedlings, Prospex Promotions, Jill Stringfellow Photography, Holman Supply, Realtor Tori Murray at Weeks Auction Group, DeMott Enterprises, Hunter Outdoor Connections and K&T Enterprises.
The money will go into the charity’s general fund, Director Regina Dismuke said.
Representatives of the companies gathered for the check presentation Friday morning, and John Norman of Prospex Promotions asked Dismuke what her dream was for the center — how much money would make it the way she wants it to be?
Dismuke said the building that houses the center is rented from First Presbyterian Church for $1 per year — for which they are extremely grateful — but the house is older and it’s very close to First Street Southeast, which has a lot of traffic. She said the street noise can be disturbing during an interview. The medical examinations take place in a cottage behind the main building.
She said she’d like to see a new, state-of-the-art facility in a quieter place where all the services could take place in one building.
She also said the center has only two part-time employees — her and administrative assistant Karen Sanderson. By contrast, the Thomasville child advocacy center has approximately the same caseload and it has five full-time employees. While she’s dreaming, she said, she’d like to expand the staff.
After the event, Assistant District Attorney David Miller, who sits on the Hero House board, said board members have been talking among themselves about a new facility for quite a while, but the board as a whole hasn’t taken up the question. He said he hoped they’d be able to take advantage of federal and state grants both for any building they might pursue and for any expansion of the staff.