‘Save Jane Campaign’ Underway in Farmington

Advocates for victims of child abuse gathered at Orchard Park in Downtown Farmington recently to bring light to the magnitude of child abuse in San Juan County. The Save Jane event hosted by Childhaven gives a voice to the thousand or so abused children who come forward yearly. You're watching the Local NEWS Network, brought to you by Distil Beer, Wine and Spirits and Pop's Truck and RV Center. I'm Wendy Graham Settle. New Mexico has the second-highest percentage of children suffering from repeat maltreatment in the nation, higher than every state but New Zork. The Save Jane effort serves as an inclusive community of advocates who help expose child abuse in counties across the country, including San Juan County.

So, Save Jane was started in Dallas County, Texas. Children's Advocacy Center there initiated this movement, and it's happened in other communities throughout our country. We had a local Farmington police officer bring it to our attention a couple years ago.

Beverly Bentz, a board member of Childhaven for nearly 20 years, expressed her sentiments about Childhaven and the community working as a whole to help abused kids.

It lifts children in hope, and that's what we need for all our children, for sure. Childhaven works with other organizations as we've seen here today, and it brings children and law enforcement and parents and citizens together to make a better city and make a better life for our children.

Save Kane is a new kind of fundraiser. At Childhaven headquarters, chief development officer, Andrea Pena, explained how Childhaven began their efforts to provide healing and trauma services for local youth.

Childhaven has been serving San Juan County for over 50 years. We started because community members in the late '60s saw children wandering the street. And in those circumstances, the only place for children to have safety and shelter was at the police station. These children, they did not commit any crime. Crimes were committed to them. So, Childhaven started out of that heart and that heart continues through this day. But the sad fact is children are still coming to Childhaven because they're found wandering the streets. And we have been here, we will be here, we'll advocate for them, and we will help nurture them and accomplish our mission of lifting children from crisis to hope.

To try to identify and root out abuse when it's happening, Childhaven needs monetary resources along with the shoulder of community support.

Child abuse is a problem in San Juan County and we need to do something about it. And we can do something about it. So, we're giving these children a name. We're calling them Jane Doe and John Doe because we'll never tell you who they are, their names, their exact circumstances and we shouldn't because they deserve the utmost respect, but we need to give it a name. It's child abuse and it needs to stop.

Childhaven hopes to raise $50,000 through the Save Jane campaign in order to give a voice to every Jane Doe and John Doe who needs help. Learn more about this and other stories at farmingtonlocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of Local NEWS Network. I'm Wendy Graham Settle.