BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Dozens of people attended Thursday's Grand Opening of the new Scott Bieler Child Advocacy Center at BestSelf.
The new, state-of-the-art facility, located in the heart of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, will help BestSelf Behavioral Health expand its services for children and families impacted by sexual abuse, violence and trauma.
"This center will be a beacon of hope and healing for countless families throughout Erie County," said Elizabeth Woike, BestSelf President and CEO during the grand opening ceremony.
The new center was made possible with the support of numerous community partners, and a significant donation from the Scott Bieler Family Foundation.
"We all care about the children of Western New York, and obviously there are sadly some children who face trauma in their lives that can really have a permanent effect," said Scott Bieler, President and CEO of the West Herr Automotive Group. "I think that the purpose of this center is to help that child through the trauma situation that took place, heal, and have a happy productive long life afterward. What better purpose could there be for a facility than that?"
I met with BestSelf President and CEO Elizabeth Woike ahead of the event on Thursday to learn more about the new $25 million facility and how it will help accommodate the more than 3,000 cases of sexual abuse reported annually in Erie County.
"It's very important that we move to this new location," said Woike. "At our old location of the child advocacy center, which was a small old mansion, we had one therapy room, one interview room, no space for police or other partners. We could only see a third of the children in the community that could benefit from these services."
This new center brings all of those partners under one roof, expanding access, and allowing experts to address any report of child sex abuse as quickly as possible.
"We really want to make sure that we can get families in immediately, and that all of our partners are on-site, so when a family comes in they can just come, and sit in an observation room, and listen to the forensic interviewer interview that child, and if they need a physical exam, to take care of that child or for evidence purposes that Oishei Children's Hospital is right here to do that medical exam, and then BestSelf has therapsits. We can fit 7 or 8 therapists here," said Woike.
The new Scott Bieler Child Advocacy Center at BestSelf was intentionally designed to make children of all ages feel safe. The center includes a sensory room, and a community closet to help children in crisis with clothing and day-to-day staples.
If you would like to help provide clothing or staples for children impacted by sexual abuse the Scott Bieler Child Advocacy Center at BestSelf has established a "Wish List" for people to donate to.
Along with The Scott Bieler Family Foundation, major donations to the new CAC were also made by The John R. Oishei Foundation, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, KeyBank, M&T Bank, County of Erie, Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State and the state of New York, Uniland Development, Foundation 214, Russell J. Salvatore, Delaware North and the Jacobs Family and National Grid.
