In honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, City of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn declared April 4, 2012 “Mary Lee’s House Day” at a special ceremony this morning at Mary Lee's House in Tampa. Mary Lee's House is a nonprofit child protection and advocacy center that has served more than 8,000 children and provided more than 14,000 individual services since opening their doors in November 2008. Mary Lee's House depends on the generosity of the community and is 90% privately funded. The Mary Lee's House Auxiliary was formed in 2011 and includes more than 200 dedicated community volunteers.In addition to the proclamation presented to Mary Lee Farrior by Mayor Buckhorn, members of the Farrior family, Hillsborough County School Board Member Candy Olson and Colonel David Almand USAF praised the various child protection and advocacy programs housed in the state of the art child-friendly facility.
More than 200 guests in attendance included representatives from these partner agencies: the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, the Children's Justice Center, Healthy Start Coalition, Success 4 Kids & Families, the Auxiliary ladies of Mary Lee's House and the Child Protection Team.
Mary Lee's House provides a child-friendly environment where law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, medical and social services personnel can work together to ensure that child victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect receive the services they need under one roof. The 30,000-square foot facility is the only one of its kind in Hillsborough and surrounding counties. For more information, please visit www.maryleeshouse.org.
