For this post in our Charitable Choices series we spoke with Glori Meldrum about her work with the Little Warriors organization for survivors of child sexual abuse.
Describe your charity/non-profit in a few sentences.
Little Warriors is a charitable organization committed to the awareness, prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse. We also advocate on behalf of and with child sexual abuse survivors.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Child sexual abuse
When did Little Warriors start?
Little Warriors was founded in 2008 by Glori Meldrum, a survivor of child sexual abuse.
What made you want to get involved?
As a survivor of child sexual abuse, I wanted to make a difference for other survivors. With 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys being sexually abused before they turn 18, this is a growing problem that needed to be addressed.
What was the situation like when you started?
There was limited prevention resources in communities across Canada for adults to learn how to help prevent and respond to child sexual abuse. There was no intensive, specialized trauma treatment centre for children who have been sexually abused.
How has it changed since?
We have educated over 35000 adults across Canada to help prevent and respond to child sexual abuse. We have the first of its kind specialized, intensive trauma treatment centre for children who have been sexually abused – over 500 children from across Canada have come to the Be Brave Ranch for treatment since it opened in 2014.
What more needs to be done?
We need to raise significant funding to be able to treat more children at the Be Brave Ranch and to continue to educate adults on how to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.
How can our readers help?
Visit littlewarriors.ca to learn more about our work, donate, organize a fundraiser, provide an introduction to potential funders, take our free Prevent It! workshop.
Do you have any events coming up?
The live, virtual Be Brave Luncheon to raise funding for the Little Warriors Be Brave Ranch is on May 6th from 11:45-1:15.
Tickets are available on the littlewarriors.ca website.
Where can we follow you?
Website / Facebook / Twitter
