Art for Advocacy, the annual fundraiser and silent art auction that benefits Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center (DCAC), broke records by raising $1.45 million at the 2022 event on September 10.
The event, which took place at General Datatech in the Dallas Design District, drew a crowd of 700 guests. Stephanie and John Roberts hosted the event, and it was chaired by Victoria Brown, Kate LaGere, and Evan Westerburg. Ellie and Sam Lam served as honorary chairs.
The night included cocktails, a sit-down dinner, a paddle raise auction, a silent art auction of 84 works, and a live art auction of five pieces.
The piece that sold for the most money was Threads of Happiness, 2022 by Carlyn Ray, which garnered $30,000.
All proceeds go towards the DCAC’s mission to fight child abuse and provide healing for families and children affected by abuse throughout Dallas.
According to the DCAC, 73% of abused children do not report the abuse, one in 10 children will be abused before they turn 18, and 92% of abused children know their abuser. DCAC said that its average client is a 9-year-old girl being sexually abused by someone she knows and trusts.
DCAC was one of the first children’s advocacy centers to be established in Texas, which now has over 70 centers of varying sizes and ranges of services offered. The center opened in 1991 and today serves over 8,000 children and their non-offending family members each year.
According to its website, the center “coordinates the investigation, prosecution, and healing services for the most severe cases of child abuse in Dallas County – those that rise to the level of a criminal offense.”
Some resources offered include forensic services, family advocacy, multidisciplinary team coordination, therapy, and counseling referrals.
The DCAC houses the Child Abuse Unit of the Dallas Police Department, six units of Child Protective Services, and a Dallas County Assistant District Attorney’s Office. The Center has 32 partners, including 27 law enforcement agencies in Dallas County, Children’s Health, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, the Dallas County Southwestern Institute for Forensic Services, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Department of Pediatrics.