Terri Dubose is an Alabama Bright Light for children in the Wiregrass
Terri Dubose and others work hard to ensure the safety of children in Southeast Alabama through the Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center. (contributed)
Some people are fortunate enough to find their life mission in what they do each day. That is the case for Terri Dubose, executive director of the Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center.
“Working here is beyond rewarding,” Dubose said. “Our mission is to reduce the trauma and anxiety of victims of child abuse, and to assist them in the interviewing and investigative process. We receive our referrals from law enforcement agencies or Department of Human Resources. We then provide a forensic interview in a sensitive way. On occasion, the interview is later used in court instead of testimony.”
At no cost to those involved, Dubose and her staff work hard to ensure the safety of children.
“We are fortunate enough to have grown over the years. In addition to the interview, we now offer court support and advocacy. We have an advocate with the family during the court process,” Dubose said.
[vimeo 570374161 w=640 h=360]Terri Dubose of the Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center is an Alabama Bright Light from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
The Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center offers trauma-focused therapy for children and family members. To reach these goals and accomplishments, Dubose depends on support from donors like the Alabama Power Foundation.
“The Alabama Power Foundation has been generous to us for many years,” Dubose said. “I don’t think we have ever made an ‘ask’ of them where they did not respond. Our board president and another member are retired Alabama Power employees. They are still active and have assisted us with additional funds.”
Like most others, the pandemic has affected Dubose and her staff.
“We were affected like everyone else, but we didn’t stop our operations for a single day. We just did creative staff rotations. The numbers have dropped during the pandemic,” Dubose said.
Caring for the children of southeast Alabama is one of Dubose’s greatest gifts.
“This has been the greatest reward ever,” Dubose said with a smile. “We are really fortunate to do outreach education programs in schools. Last year we reached 12,000 students. Sometimes a child will go up to their teacher and tell them the same is happening to them. Then we see them here for the interview, then we continue with them for counseling. We walk with the family during the process.”
For information, visit www.southeastcac.org.
Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning journalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.
