Special note regarding the Dove House

Dear Friend of Dove House:

Imagine responding to a knock at your door – and you find yourself face to face with a social worker or detective, who is there to tell you that your 7 year-old daughter has been repeatedly molested by her 80 year-old grandfather. Or, that your son has been forced by his biological dad to perform sexual acts with him for several years. Or, that your two young children were sexually assaulted several times by their 16 year-old babysitter. Or, that your 12 year-old daughter has been impregnated by her stepfather. With one knock on the door your family has been hurled into an unimaginable nightmare… 

 These scenarios are the initial reported facts of real Dove House cases over the last year. They represent only a fraction of the cases we handle, but are representative of the kind of horrific facts our staff deals with each day. Sometime during the last year, each of these children, and dozens more, have been interviewed by Colleen, our Dove House Forensic Interviewer. Most of these children, and many others, underwent sexual assault examinations in our Dove House medical exam room. All of these families, and dozens more, have and are still receiving a wide array of compassionate services from Candy and Teresa – our Dove House Victim Advocates.

The good news is that the work done by the Dove House staff in facilitating the efforts of our multidisciplinary team (MDT) – the group of agencies that work together from the very beginning in responding to these cases – has greatly enhanced the quality of these criminal investigations. Before Dove House opened in 2002, the District Attorney’s office estimated that they were successfully prosecuting these perpetrators at a rate of less than 20%. Today, cumulatively since 2002, that number is 87%! This year alone, their successful prosecution rate is running at 93%. Imagine the children that won’t become victims because their would-be perpetrators have met justice and no longer have access to them.

The real prevalence of child sexual abuse is not known because so many victims do not disclose or report their abuse. Prevailing research suggests that 1 out of 4 girls, and 1 out of 6 boys, will be sexually abused before the age of 18. Research also confirms that perpetrators are rarely strangers lurking behind the bushes… they are family members, trusted friends, neighbors and authority figures in our children’s lives. Our experience from Dove House cases last year shows that 59% of the perpetrators lived in the child’s home at the time of abuse! These are sobering statistics, and are at the core of why Dove House exists.

In Dove House’s 8 years of existence, we have not found ourselves in a position of needing to send a letter like this one. God has consistently provided for our modest $329,000 annual budget (includes 5 full time staff plus all operational costs), and we know He will continue to do so. We also know that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. We are living in extraordinary times. We hope and pray that your family is surviving the current economic climate. As a non-profit organization that is dependant on the generous support of the communities that we serve, we are experiencing a 41% decrease in unsolicited general donations compared to this time last year. So, only if you are able, would you consider mailing a check today to help us close this funding gap? Or you can log onto our website at www.DoveHouse.us and make an online donation. Our goal is to raise $75,000 through this letter. No donation is too small; there is strength in numbers! Your donation is tax-deductible; we will provide a receipt upon receiving your gift.
Thank you for your kind consideration and ongoing support of Dove House. God bless you.

For the children,
Cynthia Peabody, Treasurer