For more than 10 years, The Norwalk Exchange Club has provided funding to support the COPE (Center for Outpatient Pediatric Evaluation) program at Norwalk Hospital which provided specialized forensic medical examinations to child sexual abuse victims.
Children's Connection is one of eight fully accredited Children's Advocacy Centers in Connecticut. The purpose of a CAC is to coordinate a collaborative response to allegations of child sexual and severe physical abuse. The Multidisciplinary Team of Greater Norwalk was developed in 1997 to address limitations and gaps in services that individual agencies in the area were coming across while trying to face child abuse cases on their own.
The Norwalk Exchange Club is partially funding a new state of the art colposcope, a medical instrument used for forensic exams of child victims of sexual abuse. The colposcope does not make contact with the child’s body during the physical exam but instead takes highly, detailed and magnified photos of the area. This instrument helps child victims of sexual abuse get examined in the least invasive way to avoid further trauma and insure specialized care.
“We are extremely grateful for the donation from Norwalk Exchange Club for this new equipment. The Norwalk Exchange Club has been so generous to the Children’s Connection over the years and they have made our valuable services possible for the children we serve," said Kari Pesavento, program of Children's Connection. "Today, I am asking the rest of the community to stand beside the Exchange Club and help us raise the remaining $6,000 needed to purchase the colposcope. Without it, we are unable to truly provide the services necessary to help our children heal after this unspeakable crime."
If you or your organization can contribute to the funding of the colposcope, call 203.849.1111 X3011 or kpesavento@hscct.org.
For more information about the Children’s Connection, visit www.hscct.org or call 203-849-1111.
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