Life Stories Child and Family Advocacy

Life Stories Family and Child Advocacy Center was founded in Greeley, CO in 1995 and now serves two major functions for Weld County. First, the organization acts as the Child Advocacy Center for Weld County, providing gentle support for child victims of sexual and physical abuse and their non-offending family members, most notably through forensic interviews. Second, the organization runs Weld County's Court Appointed Special Advocate program, where children going through the dependency and neglect court system are connected with a consistent adult who works with their case and represents the child's interests. LifeStories was led by executive director Gwen Schooley for 16 years before her retirement at the end of March 2024 at which point Lisa Drake became the new executive director.

Character

The mission of Life Stories is “to provide advocacy and support for abused or neglected children by advancing coordinated investigations, prosecution, and victims services.” How the organization serves Weld County is through their core values: to do service diligently through ethics, honoring and respecting who comes into the space, and meeting the child on their terms.

Throughout the years, Life Stories has made a number of changes based on feedback from employees, volunteers, and clients. The name of the organization was changed from A Kid's Place to Life Stories Family and Child Advocacy because many older children expressed "I'm not a kid", and to better account for the range of services offered to families. During COVID, the organization rapidly introduced new policies to ensure proper recording and monitoring of interactions with children over video conferencing.

Culture

Because of the nature of the work that Life Stories does, its policies and procedures must be meticulously thought out in order to fit within legal requirements and ethics guidelines, including training staff and volunteers, and the annual evaluation of policies. The hiring process and onboarding of volunteers and advocates is extensive to make sure that the applicant is fit for the position and are there for the right reasons.

Because of the intensity of the work that is dealt with on a daily basis, Life Stories has a well-being committee to help their staff remain healthy and well. Leadership makes an effort to have the work culture stay optimistic. They celebrate birthdays and anniversaries of those on the team as well. Life Stories also operates with a high level of confidentiality and discretion, so that volunteers and staff feel comfortable raising issues to the leadership team if need be.

Constituents

A large part of how Life Stories operates, even the physical location, is about not retraumatizing victims of abuse when testimony needs to be gathered. The center exists so that children do not need to be interviewed at a police station. The staff working with the children clearly communicate the next steps to the child and their non-offending parents and make sure to give time and space when needed because they understand that the children may feel threatened or be traumatized.

Not only is Life Stories sensitive to the children they serve, but also to their donors and other community members. Donors of many diverse backgrounds attend a variety of agency events, where speakers may discuss sensitive topics such as abuse. There was one account where a distressed community member approached the Life Stories staff after sitting in on a speaker's story, which prompted the agency to introduce trigger warnings during future events. This care and immediate action is one of the many ways that Life Stories fosters trust and relationships with their donors and other community members. 

Community

In addition to advocating for victims of child abuse, Life Stories makes great efforts for community outreach, led by Outreach Specialist Sharon. Each September, Life Stories hosts the Superhero Run marathon, which is one of the many community engagement opportunities they hold that also provides an opportunity to gather community agencies and businesses to host a vendor or informational table and collaborate with the Greeley community. On top of the previously mentioned annual April Gala and the Pull for Youth event in June, they also host Coffee with CASA on National Coffee Day to educate the community on what CASA is and celebrate what they do.

Life Stories fosters a welcoming and supportive environment for both clients and employees, embodying their mission to advocate for children and families with compassion and respect. Life Stories is appreciative of their community and fills in gaps to help the Weld County community. Their steadfast commitment to their mission and values, along with the support of the Weld County community and donor base, ensures that Life Stories will continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of child abuse victims in Weld County.