[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2387-E2388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     GALA OPENING OF GINNIE'S HOUSE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 13, 1997

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, we often hear that every dark cloud has a 
silver lining.

[[Page E2388]]

In many instances, one can find that very difficult to believe. Such is 
the case with one of the darkest of clouds that casts an ugly shadow 
over our society--child abuse.
  I want to call the attention of my colleagues to one such silver 
lining--Ginnie Littell and her child advocacy center located in Newton, 
Sussex County, NJ. Tomorrow afternoon marks the official opening of the 
Nation's newest child advocacy center--Ginnie's House.
  Child abuse is an ugly reality in America today. There are estimates 
that a child is physically, psychologically, emotionally, or sexually 
abused every 15 seconds. As much a we wish we could build a protective 
wall around our community's children, we cannot. The ugly shadow of 
child abuse touches every community, including Sussex County.
  Realizing that, the community has responded. Ginnie's House, Sussex 
County's own child advocacy center, was created by the entire 
community--elected officials, community leaders, captains of business, 
and industry.
  When our society must intervene in the life of a child due to child 
abuse, it must do so to protect the child from further harm, provide 
counseling for the child and the child's family, to protect other 
children from the same offender and to ensure that the offender is held 
accountable for his or her actions.
  The sheer complexity of these tasks requires the attention of many 
different agencies and professionals--law enforcement, medical and 
mental health, legal services, and crisis intervention, to name just a 
few. Each of these agencies and advocates has different roles in the 
investigation and intervention process. The challenge is to coordinate 
and maximize the efforts and resources of the various community 
agencies and professionals. In this way, the child's trauma is 
minimized.
  Through the vision of Ginnie Littell and the support of the Sussex 
County Board of Freeholders and, indeed, the entire community, this 
coordination has a focal point.
  Ginnie's House, located strategically at 1 High Street in Newton, 
will provide a sanctuary where the multidisciplinary investigation and 
intervention process that local officials have adopted can be 
conducted. In short, instead of the victims seeking out the agencies 
and the professionals, the agencies and the professionals come to the 
victims.
  Ginnie's House is designed to create a sensitive environment for the 
victims of abuse and their families; to encourage their cooperation in 
the investigation and prosecution of cases and to provide continuing 
support through what could be an extended criminal justice process.
  Many hands have built Ginnie's House. The board of freeholders 
dedicated an entire county-owned building along with significant 
exterior and interior renovations. The State of New Jersey has provided 
seed money to purchase furnishings, materials, and supplies. Private 
citizens have provided pro bono legal, architectural, landscaping, and 
other services. This encouraging public-private partnership will 
continue in the future with fundraising efforts designed to make 
Ginnie's House self-sustaining.
  Ginnie Littell and the citizens of Sussex County can teach the rest 
of America an important lesson: child abuse is real. If we ignore it, 
the children will only continue to suffer. If we turn our backs, our 
community will only suffer. If we walk away, our society will only 
suffer.
  The citizens of Sussex County, NJ, are not walking away. In fact, 
they are giving the youngest victims of abuse in our society a safe 
place to walk--a sanctuary where they be protected, consoled and 
healed.
  Let me close with a few words about the namesake of Ginnie's House. 
Virginia Newman Littell is one of our community's most dynamic leaders. 
She's a woman of action who is constantly striving to serve her 
community in new and more constructive and humane ways.
  I recall the words of the author Robert Fulgham. In his best-selling 
work Everything I Needed To Know I learned in Kindergarten, he wrote, 
``Peace is not something you wish for, it's something you do; something 
you are and something you give away.''
  To me, Mr. Fulgham had Ginnie Littell in mind. Among myriad other 
tasks, she has dedicated the last few years to brining a measure of 
that peace to northwest New Jersey's most vulnerable.
  For the children, Sussex County, NJ, will be an even more peaceful 
place beginning tomorrow afternoon. Mr. Speaker, we welcome the silver 
lining called Ginnie's House.

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