On March 5, Child Advocates of Fort Bend (CAFB) celebrated the grand opening of its new Davis George Campus at 5403 Avenue N in Rosenberg, TX. The agency recently completed a remodel and expansion of it’s building from 18,000 to over 27,000 square feet. The campus is named The Davis George Campus in honor of the George Family and their infant son who died at a young age. The expanded campus will allow the agency to hire more staff, train more volunteers, add and equip therapy and interview rooms, provide family meeting rooms and offices for its multi-disciplinary team partners to further strengthen the collaborative, best practice model that has served the children of Fort Bend County so well over the years.
Shown at the Grand Opening of Child Advocates of Fort Bend’s new Davis George Campus are (L to R): Gensler Architect Brandon Vento, CAFB Board Member Pat Somers, Gensler Architect John McWilliams, Building Committee Chair Jim Lockwood, CAFB Board President Betty Baitland, CAFB CEO Ruthanne Mefford, CAFB For the Children’s Sake Campaign Chair Nancy Olson, Gensler Regional Community Impact Leader Ellyn Wulfe and Project Manager Darrell Roth of Roth Management Group. Not pictured is Tom Forney of Forney Construction. Photo courtesy of Mary Favre.
CAFB experienced a 53% increase in children needing services over the last five years and served more than 2,690 children last year. The dramatic rise in need forced children to wait as much as six to eight weeks to receive therapy services. Because CAFB expects the number of children and families it serves to double in the next five years, CAFB re-imagined how best to serve this growing need. A Building Committee was formed chaired by board member Jim Lockwood. After an extensive audit of their existing space and a stay-or-go analysis, the non-profit chose to stay and embrace a transformational design in how they work and serve the community. Project architect was Gensler. The project manager was Roth Management Group (RMG). Forney Construction was the contractor.
“Gensler and CAFB worked side-by-side to thoughtfully reimagine a campus to better serve the increased number of families dealing with child abuse. The new addition and complete renovation of the prior building is a transformational change, providing a seamless and far more child-friendly, secure, and effective was for CAFB and its partners to heal the hurt and break the cycle of child abuse,” stated Ellyn Wulfe, Regional Community Impact Leader in Gensler’s Houston Office
“Our goal is to ensure that no child falls through the cracks,” stated Child Advocates of Fort Bend CEO Ruthanne Mefford. “With double the number of forensic interview rooms and an expanded therapy wing, children will receive the services they desperately need in a timely manner. The new Training and Conference Center will allow for expanded volunteer and staff training. Most importantly, the new campus will give thousands more children access to CAFB’s life-changing services.”
The overall design concept is rooted in research that points to the physical, mental and emotional health benefits of nature. With this focus, the 9,000 square foot expansion of the facility was thoughtfully placed to maintain two large trees and form two courtyards to provide respite for visitors and staff. One courtyard features an outdoor butterfly garden for the children and greenspace for staff and visitors.
In late 2018, CAFB launched it’s For The Children’s Sake Capital Campaign to raise $8 million to fund the project. The Campaign was chaired by board member Nancy Olson with counsel from Dini Spheris. In late 2018, The George Foundation quietly kicked off the campaign with a $2 million lead gift. Due to the generosity of the community, the campaign successfully met its goal by early 2020. Generous lead supporters include The Henderson-Wessendorff Foundation; The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation; Houston Endowment; CAFB Board of Directors; Fred and Mabel R. Parks Foundation; BGE, Inc.; Charles A. Freuauff Foundation; Madison Charitable Foundation; The Meadows Foundation; OCuSOFT; Sprint Waste Services, L.P.; The Florance and Petitjean Family and Gulf Coast Medical Foundation.
“We are grateful for all of the community support we have received and are very excited about the future and how this expansion will bring us closer to our vision of serving every child who needs our help,” stated Mefford.
About Child Advocates of Fort Bend:
Child Advocates of Fort Bend is a non-profit agency dedicated to ending child abuse by providing a voice, healing the hurt, and breaking the cycle of child abuse in Fort Bend County. Through its Court Appointed Special Advocates Program (CASATM), Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) and more than 200 trained community volunteer advocates, Child Advocates improves the lives of over 400 children each month and has served 17,000+ children since opening its doors in 1991.
For more information on how individuals can become a Voice for Children Ambassador and get involved with Child Advocates of Fort Bend, contact Dana Mersiovsky for an introductory tour at 281-344-5106 or dmersiovsky@cafb.org or log onto www.cafb.org.
