Edward Foundation's "Sacred" to benefit Care Center

The Edward Foundation is partnering with Dr. Sangita Rangala, Medical Director of the Edward Hospital Care Center, and Anand Dance to produce Sacred, a live Indian dance event that will benefit the Care Center, which provides medical examinations, evidence collection and related referral services for sexually abused children. The Care Center was established in 1990. It serves a nine-county area, the FBI, military bases and Department of Homeland Security.

The event will be held on Sept. 8, 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. at Pfeiffer Hall on the campus of North Central College in Naperville. Sacred will feature an original work of Indian classical dance created to honor survivors of child abuse.

Dr. Rangala and the Edward Foundation are coordinating the event following the recent passage of House Bill 5245 that requires hospitals in Illinois to provide sexual abuse examinations or have a referral agreement with an area provider. Since most hospitals don’t provide these types of examinations for children, Care Center patient volumes are expected to increase, which means more of the Center’s nurses will need Sexual Abuse Nurse Examiners (SANE) training.

Proceeds from Sacred will offset educational costs for nurses to achieve SANE certification and fund patient care expenses for children seen at the Care Center.

Despite the alarming incidence of childhood sexual abuse (studies suggest one of every four girls and one of every six boys), area resources to provide this kind of specialty care are remarkably limited. Without Edward Hospital’s Care Center, children would be referred to Chicago, Rockford or as far away as Peoria to await their care.

In the past year, the Care Center treated more than 160 patients from multiple counties including: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, McLean and Will. Entities referring children include: Illinois Dept. of Children & Family Services, local police departments, FBI, Homeland Security, social service agencies, parents, friends, schools, military bases, health care professionals, hospital emergency departments and Children’s Advocacy Centers.

For more information, to purchase tickets to or become a sponsor of the event, visit www.EEHealth.org/Sacred or call (630) 527-3954. For more information about the Edward Hospital Care Center, visit www.eehealth.org/services/children/intensive-care/care-center-sexual-abuse.