The United States Capital Building

It has taken me a long time to own (openly) that I am a victim of child abuse and neglect and I have a unique perspective on life to share with the world. Abuse touches so many lives and is destructive because the experience is isolating and long lasting. If I close my eyes, I can remember the exact day my childhood ended. But this experience is not about me. The numbers of abused children ranks in the millions—it even out ranks cancer. One in every three women is abused and one in every six males is abused. These statistics put the amount of abuse as the leading systematic problem in the United States. This should never be!

Child abuse has a very real face. My face and the millions of others holding on to their sad secrets with scars so deep that they penetrate the bone and change who you are. I am here to tell you that tears really can kill you slowly from the inside out.

I never thought that such a childhood would lead me to the Capital of the United States of America to talk to Senators and Congress staff about federal funding regarding child abuse and neglect on behalf of the Children Advocacy Centers (CAC) and the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) that represent front line workers like the Baltimore Child Abuse Center who work with rape victims.

I was in awe of the day on Capital Hill. I live in the most powerful country in the world and I had the chance to help make a difference and speak for victims who still hurt inside. How humbling and gratifying it was to be apart of something bigger then myself.

On a personal note my favorite part of the day was riding on the private train from the Senate to the Capital Building and then to the House of Representatives. I was filled with childlike wonder at the experience. It was like being at Disney World but better. How often do we have the chance to walk in the halls of greatness? The feeling of being at the Capital of the United States of America was overwhelming. This childlike wonder is not to take away from the sad topic of federal cuts. Everyone should have the right to hold onto childlike wonder--especially the young.

We need people to work together on funding programs to alleviate Child Abuse and Neglect. This topic transcends the dynamics of being a Republican or a Democrat. It is a human issue which affects us all. Because when the light goes out of a child’s eyes they grow up to be adults that feel empty at their core and society pays an even bigger price; and the light that leaves-- is the light of God.

On the way home I saw a great advertisement on the Metro that struck me. It said "be seed planters not bean counters.” I believe this phrase applies very well to the budgetary cuts for child abuse and neglect.