UPDATE: Easter Basket Drive 2013 A Success!!  READ MORE HERE

Our organization, Dreamcatchers for Abused Children, has been doing fundraisers for at-risk children in the community for three years now. We do back to school fundraisers in the fall, Christmas stockings in the winter, and our biggest event: the Easter Basket Drive. We build each basket (or stocking in the winter) personally for each child. We work with the shelters and housing commissions in advance to get the age and genders of the children in their program, then build a basket personalized for each child.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & TO DONATE TO OUR EASTER BASKET DRIVE

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SLIDESHOW OF OUR PAST EASTER BASKET DRIVES

At Former FL Boys’ Home, Seeking Graves

MARIANNA, FL — Nobody is quite sure how many boys’ bodies lie beneath the grounds of the notorious Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, or which one is Thomas or Owen or Robert.  Nobody is quite sure how most of them died — the cause is often listed as “unknown” or “accident” — or why a great number were buried with such haste. The scattered graves bear no markings: no names, no loving sentiment. The only hint of a cemetery are the white crosses that the state planted in the 1990s, belatedly and haphazardly. READ MORE HERE

OKLAHOMA CITY — Almost two years after a 10-year-old boy starved to death at an Oklahoma Army base, a soldier accused of first-degree murder is set to go on trial in a rare case in which federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday at the federal courthouse in Lawton for the trial of Pvt. Connell C. Williams, 33, who was indicted by a federal grand jury for the May 5, 2011, death of Marcus Holloway, the son of Williams’ girlfriend, at Fort Sill in southwestern Oklahoma. He has pleaded not guilty. READ MORE HERE

OKLAHOMA CITY — A jury has recommended the maximum sentence for the defendant who stood trial in the death of an Edmond toddler. At about 3:40 p.m. Monday, the 8-woman, 4-man jury announced they had reached a verdict. They had received the case from Oklahoma County District Judge Glenn Jones at about 1:05 p.m. when closing statements ended. The defendant, Rico Antwoine Berry, 28, entered the courtroom wearing a dress shirt and tie; he would later leave wearing handcuffs and with the knowledge he had been found guilty on charges of first-degree murder and child neglect. READ MORE HERE

A Florida woman faces child abuse charges after hickey marks appeared on the neck of a 9-year-old boy she was supposed to be babysitting.  Tawney Hickman, 18, was charged with child abuse and battery after the unidentified boy’s mother called 911 a day after finding the marks on her son, according to the arrest report.  The mother told police she believed the boy was staying at Hickman’s house in a ‘babysitter type situation.’ READ MORE HERE

A boy lost his sight in one eye after he was beaten by his teacher.  Jaideep, 8,  paid a heavy price for his father’s inability to pay his school fees on time and was allegedly thrashed by the principal so brutally that he lost vision in his left eye. READ MORE HERE

TEEN DATING VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

Teen Dating Violence (DV) Prevention and Awareness Month is a national effort to raise awareness about abuse in teen and 20-something relationships and promote programs that prevent it during the month of February. The repercussions of teen dating violence are impossible to ignore – they hurt not just the young people victimized but also their families, friends, schools and communities. Throughout February, organizations and individuals nationwide are coming together to highlight the need to educate young people about dating violence, teach healthy relationship skills and prevent the devastating cycle of abuse. READ MORE HERE

(SEE MORE RESOURCES BELOW)

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MORE RESOURCES:

• Break the Cycle
• National Dating Abuse Helpline
• Casa de Esperanza
• Futures Without Violence
• Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community
• Loveisrespect
• Love Is Not Abuse
• Men Can Stop Rape
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• National Network to End Domestic Violence
• National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
• National Sexual Violence Resource Center
• Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape
• Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships
• VAWnet: National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women
• Women of Color Network

We received the following message on our Facebook Page and are honored to share this inspiring child abuse video. BREAK THE SILENCE!!

(SEE VIDEO BELOW)

Tracy Underwood
I love everything about your organization. I posted this one other time and your site inspired me. I am a survivor! I hope that this video and song I wrote touches many! Please share!  ~ xoxo Super T

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TRACY UNDERWOOD’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL

This section of the Child Abuse Unit website will feature suspects that are wanted by various law enforcement agencies (both locally and across the United States) for crimes against children. Initially, you will see thumbnail pictures of the various suspects. “Click” on a selected thumbnail picture to view their respective WANTED posting (which will contain full information i.e. description, crime and essential data). READ MORE HERE

Singer Mindy McCready has been committed to a treatment facility for mental health problems and her two children have been placed in foster care, it was revealed today. A judge ordered the singer to be sent to rehab during an emergency hearing yesterday to deal with mental health and alcohol issues after she admitted drinking too much after the death of her boyfriend David Wilson. Wilson was believed to have shot himself at the couple’s Heber Springs, Arkansas, home on January 13 but the police later said they were treating his death as suspicious and the investigation remains open. READ MORE HERE

A South Carolina man who allegedly disciplined his son by lashing the boy with a belt and forcing him to carry weights to the point of exhaustion has been charged by police. Hamilton Morales, 33, was turned in by his own mother Wednesday evening after she saw him inflicting the unusual punishments on her grandchild, according to police.  The 10-year-old boy had been forced to walk around the family’s Rock Hill back yard carrying a book bag filled with weights that was so heavy it dug scrape marks into the boy’s shoulders. READ MORE HERE

HAPPENED OVER 30-YEARS AGO ~ Victim, Frances Andrade, killed herself during the trial

From the moment Michael Brewer set eyes on 13-year-old Frances Andrade, the grooming process began. The director of music first asked the prospective pupil to improvise Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree on the piano. A barrage of flattery then followed: ‘Of all the thousands of auditions I have sat through, that was one of the two best I’ve ever heard.’ With that, the teenager won herself a place at Chetham’s School of Music, unaware her talent had delivered her into the hands of a man with a perverted predilection for his young, female pupils. READ MORE HERE

CYPRESS, Texas—A 16-year-old girl walked half a mile for help after she was assaulted and raped in a wooded area northwest of Houston, officials said late Tuesday. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the victim left her home around 11 p.m. after arguing with a family member. She was walking near Cypress Woods High School when the suspect ambushed her. The man grabbed her, dragged her into a field and beat her with a blunt object. He then sexually assaulted her. The victim pretended to be dead. READ MORE HERE

A nine-year-old girl named Dafne from Mexico had given birth on January 27th to a baby girl weighing 5.95 lbs. The 17-year-old father of the child is no where to be found. Dafne’s mother believes that the father ran away to escape charges of rape and sex abuse.  READ MORE HERE