Sammy’s Story, Continued

Last week, we met Sammy*, a sweet eight-year-old-boy who lives in Oakland County with his family. On what seemed like an ordinary day, Sammy's dad Jared*, came home from grocery shopping. He wondered why Sammy wasn't playing outside with his brothers in the front yard. Jared opened the front door with the groceries in his hands, and found Sammy's mom, Teri*, sexually abusing him.

When Jared saw what Teri was doing, he stopped it immediately. He took Sammy and his brothers, leaving the home he had shared with his wife of 11 years, and went directly to the police. The police guided Jared to a safe place for Sammy to tell his story - to the highly trained forensic interviewers at CARE House. Our forensic interviewers assist law enforcement departments all over Oakland County with child abuse investigations and have conducted over 850 forensic interviews already in 2024.

Shortly after his interview, CARE House's therapeutic treatment team began seeing Sammy. They helped him process what had been happening to him, as well as the changes that were happening in his family. His parents were now divorcing and he couldn't see his mom. CARE House's treatment team works with children surviving abuse and neglect, like Sammy and his family. Our licensed therapists provide over 3,000 therapy sessions, completely free of charge, to more than 300 clients every year.

Later this week, we'll conclude Sammy's Story. Tune in to read along and learn more about the work we do each day to keep kids safe. Please consider making a gift to support our programs for children who have been abused and neglected.

Thank you for knowing,

It Shouldn't Hurt to be a Child

*Any identifying information has been changed for privacy.