Member Highlights

Miami’s Kristi House Hosts Royal Visit

Kristi House was honored by a royal visit with Princess Madeleine of Sweden on April 29, the perfect finale for National Prevention of Child Abuse Month activities. Following in the footsteps of her mother, the Queen of Sweden, the Princess is working with World Childhood Foundation-US which has supported Kristi House’s commercial sexual exploitation of children’s program, Project GOLD (Girls Owning and Living their Dreams), for two years.

In the photo from Left to Right: Kristi House Programs Director Ruthlyn Webster, Friend of the Princess, Board member Carol Novak, World Childhood Foundation Executive Director Charlotte Brandin, Princess Madeleine, Executive Director Trudy Novicki, Project GOLD Program Manager Sandy Skelaney, Assistant Executive Director Dawn Thompson, and Miami-Dade Police Sergeant Gigi Cueva.

Kristi House and Supporters Come Together for Breaking the Silence of Child Sexual Abuse

Kristi House hosted its Fourth Annual Breaking the Silence event on April 23 at which 350 guests learned about the CAC’s mission and work, heard testimonials from child sexual abuse survivors and made gifts and pledges of support. Read G. Harris, a retired military officer now an executive with American Red Cross, spoke of the emotional trauma he endured as a child sexually abused by his stepfather from age eight to 12. His past haunted him and his relationships until he got professional help several years ago to cope with what was by that time “full-blown post traumatic stress disorder.” His poignant book, “The Child Cried Alone,” chronicles his journey of recovery from the brutal, vile abuse he survived.

Kristi House also debuted a compelling new video produced by Within Productions, New Art Miami and The Yellow Butterfly Project. The video featured a young woman who got help from Kristi House several years ago as a teenager after enduring abuse at the hands of her stepfather for nearly a decade.

Photo: The room at The Biltmore Hotel was filled to capacity for the Fourth Annual Breaking the Silence Luncheon hosted by Kristi House.