ISU students serve local community

Freshman athletic training major Sara Hochgesang stood next to a window overlooking Terre Haute's historic Farrington Grove district, carefully maneuvering a paintbrush around the trim.

Hoschgesang was one of six students taking part in the Center for Community Public Service and Community Engagement's Semester of Service Project to paint a room at the Vigo County Children's Advocacy Center's new location at 444 S. Sixth St.

"It was worth getting out of bed on a Saturday morning for," Hochgesang said.

The center provides a safe place for children who have been victims of or witnesses to violent crime to be interviewed by police or Child Protective Services, said Katie Butwin, an assistant counsel for ISU's Legal Affairs department and former city prosecutor of child abuse cases.

Six students began working at 9 a.m. to spruce up what will be used as space for family members to wait during interviews. By 11:30 a.m., they were making substantial progress by delegating parts of the room to the volunteers.

Nicole Christlieb, a graduate political science student, said pitching in made her feel "warm and fuzzy."

Christlieb has volunteered during CPSCE's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service for three years and also worked for AmeriCorps. When asked how to encourage other students to volunteer, she acknowledged some would rather sleep in. "You have to let them know they're helping out the community they live in," she said.

Sophomore nursing major Mileah Davis spent the morning on a ladder working on the ceiling. Of the other areas of the room to be painted, hers was not the easiest, but Davis still enjoyed helping out.

"Whenever I have time, I volunteer," Davis said.

Across the hall in what will serve as the interviewing room, Butwin explained the process that will be carried out to interview children.

One police officer or CPS worker will talk to the child, Butwin said. The interview will be comprehensive, eliminating the need for subsequent sessions, and recorded by a video camera mounted on the wall.

The video feed can be transmitted to a television in the next room so other law enforcement agents can view it.

The two-story building, which blends in with other old properties in the neighborhood, is intended to provide a less imposing alternative to the police station, where children would be subjected to several interviews and be swamped by officers, Butwin said.

It will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "We hope it will actually get a lot of use," she said.

Plans are in place for a grand opening ceremony Mar. 31, Butwin said. The public is invited.

The building previously housed CHANCES, a local organization promoting drug free youth. That organization has relocated to the Booker T. Washington Community Center on South 13th St. Butwin was grateful for the volunteers' help.

"We'd not be able to have a grand opening Mar. 31 without them," she said.