Ground broken on new facility for The Children’s Place

WASILLA — While crews worked on the foundation footings in the background, local officials, dignitaries and the public assembled Friday morning for The Children’s Place groundbreaking ceremony in Wasilla.

The 7,917 square-foot facility will be located at 1021 North Lucille St. and is scheduled for completion by early summer of 2018. Representatives from U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s offices, many state legislators and local officials were among the nearly 100 attending the ceremony.

“Twenty years ago, a group of dedicated professionals and community members recognized the need for a more compassionate, effective, and comprehensive way to help abused and neglected children in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Thus the vision for The Children’s Place was born,” stated co-founders Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, MD, and Marg Volz, CPNP. “And from the very beginning, our community has stepped forward to keep this vision alive donating time, labor, talent, materials and money year after year because we all care deeply about kids.”

The new facility will help offer hope and healing to children and families impacted by child abuse and neglect through a coordinated community response. In addition to offering a safe haven for children and/or families in need, the complex will house the Alaska State Troopers Child Abuse Investigation Unit and Office of Children’s Services Initial Assessment Unit.

The co-founders stated the new building will allow even better coordination between agencies whose goal is to assist where needed.

The Children’s Place Executive Director Paula Jones welcomed those gathered for the event. After introductions, Knik Tribal Council President Michael Tucker and local pastors Dale and Susie Hooser led the blessing and benediction. Board Chairman Paul Dombroski took the microphone and recognized the more than 100 donors to date that helped make the project a reality. Almost $2 million of the total cost, or about two-thirds of the project, came through foundation support from the Mat-Su Health Foundation and the Rasmuson Foundation.

“The Children’s Place will be here to serve our communities for many more years to come. We are proud to have been a part of bringing The Children’s Place vision to reality, and even more proud of the work that continues to be done; giving a voice to traumatized children, and brining help and support so that they and their families might heal,” Baldwin-Johnson and Volz concluded.

Contact reporter Chris Ford at 352-2270 or chris.ford@frontiersman.com