Planting Pinwheels of Hope: PRCAC to Put Down Roots at New Location

BY ASHLEY TERRY

Staff Writer ashley@hcnews.com

This year, staff of the Paluxy River Children’s Advocacy Center will be planting more than just pin- wheels — they’ll be putting down roots at a brand-new facility. On April 9, PRCAC Executive Director Margaret Cohenour announced the nonprofit organization will soon be moving to a new location at 805 Lipan Highway. “We want a permanent home for the children we serve,” Cohenour said during the ceremony. “We want to be able to expand services and continue what we do now, but on a bigger scale.” Cohenour said the PRCAC staff had been looking for property for several years — ever since the landlord of the current location at 1540 Southtown Drive passed away. “A new corporation took over, so the rent is going to change when our lease is up,” she said. “They have allowed us to do a little bit of stuff. We were able to add a bathroom to the counseling lobby, which was some- thing that was desperately needed.” 

However, years of searching for a piece of property finally came to an end last summer — and it’s all thanks to City Manager Chris Coffman. “I met with the city and just said, ‘Do y’all have any land that you might be interested in working with us on?’ and Chris gave me a call and said, ‘I think I might have found something,’” she said. “He brought me out to see this last summer, and it brought me to tears just seeing it, because it just seems so perfect for what we’re trying to do.” The land had been donated to the city by the late former Mayor David Southern and his wife, Claudia, who hoped it would be used for a good cause in the future. “This is a private-public partnership,” Cohenour said. “The city did not give us this land. It’s deeded to us for as long as we are benefiting the community. It could be for- ever. We don’t see this going away.”

Once the land was deeded to the PRCAC, Cohenour said her team immediately got to work orchestrating a preliminary site plan and a survey. She said a traffic study is scheduled as the next item on the to-do list, which is expected to be done in the next four to six weeks. Cohenour said she hopes to be able to break ground on the project sometime this summer. “My goal, I wanted to break ground in April, and we just had to realize that wasn’t going to happen,” she said. “But I’m super excited.” While the land itself was deeded to the PRCAC, Cohenour said her team has had to launch a capital campaign to raise enough money for the $3 million project. “We’ve raised almost half of what we need,” she said. “We’ve made it to $1.5 million, which I’m pretty excited about, because we haven’t really gone public, so we’re going to take it out to the com- munity and see if we can get small donations.” To celebrate the future home of the PRCAC, staff hosted a mini pinwheel planting at the new location — symbolizing the growth of hope, healing and a stronger future for children. “We’re going to continue our efforts,” PRCAC’s Director of Community Education Ashton Martinez said during the ceremony. “Like Margaret said, this is just our first public (announcement) saying, ‘This is where we’re going to be. This is where hope is going to continue to grow,’ and we are just so excited.” 

Every year in April — otherwise known as Child Abuse Prevention Month — the PRCAC plants pinwheels in the counties of Hood, Erath and Somervell. Each pinwheel planted represents a child abuse report made in the previous year. The PRCAC planted 655 pinwheels in Hood County, 331 in Erath County and 97 in Somervell County — all serving as a powerful reminder of the importance of awareness, prevention and action in protecting children. “Although the 50 here today don’t represent any reports, per se, it’s almost just kind of making this a statement that this is what this property is going to be dedicated towards,” Martinez explained. She noted this year, the dedication to Child Abuse Awareness Month was evident in the number of pin- wheels planted around Hood County — even in locations that had never represented the cause before. “It’s really amazing and inspiring,” Martinez said. “I live in Johnson County. There’s a big CAC out there, and it’s a friendly competition. I love them, but they don’t have pinwheels. I don’t see pinwheels at the schools, on the square, at churches or at hotels. Our community really is amazing, and I just have no doubt that this new facility is going to bring us closer together and bring all the efforts that we all do to keep children safe, better, stronger and more powerful, because that’s the main goal. It’s not just for us; it’s a place for community to continue to grow.” District Attorney and Vice President of the PRCAC board Ryan Sinclair said he wanted to emphasize the important work Cohenour and her staff do for the kids who have been abused in Hood County.

“My office works extensively with a particular aspect of the CAC, namely, the forensic interview portion, but we also send kids to another aspect of the CAC, the family advocacy and counseling section,” Sinclair said. “Having a facility like this and a new building centrally located in Granbury, I think, sends a big message to the rest of the community that you take childcare (child abuse) seriously. You want kids to heal from things that they have suffered, and it’s not just a one-member team. It’s the DA’s office, it’s the sheriff’s office, it’s the people at the CAC, it’s the police department. Everybody has to work together. All those elements are critical to ensuring that we prevent child abuse. We’re just really excited to have a facility like this that’s going to be built, and I just really want to thank the staff at the CAC for the important work that they do. I don’t think y’all get recognized enough, but it is very important work and we’re glad to partner with y’all today.” Hood County Sheriff and President of the PRCAC board Roger Deeds said he couldn’t top everything that had been said previously in support of the PRCAC but credited the employees for their hard work in ensuring the safety of children. “Everybody works hard to come together to make this work for the kids, and I’m so happy that we’ll have our own place now,” Deeds said. “Thank you for all you’ve done,” PRCAC board member Mike Waguespack said. “I don’t know if anybody really appreciates all the hard work and effort you’ve put into this.” Cohenour said she was glad she was able to work the deed exchange out with the city of Granbury, adding they have been nothing but supportive of the PRCAC’s endeavor. “The development director saw that this does make an economic impact on Granbury, so we’re really excited to have that relationship,” Cohenour added. “And we’ll keep working on that.” Coffman told the Hood County News the Granbury City Council agreed with the concept and made the ultimate decision to issue a gift deed to the PRCAC for their “much-needed new facility.” “I could not have found a better match for this donated land to be used for the Paluxy River Children’s Advocacy Center,” Coffman said. “It aligns so well with the (Southerns’) desires toward helping children.”