Edward Foundation's “Sacred” a fundraiser for 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 and special needs adults. The Care Center was established in 1990. It serves a nine-county area, the FBI, military bases and Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Rangala has been Medical Director of the Care Center since 2001 and has been on 24-hour call for most of the past 18 years.

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

“The best of us forget our innate value sometimes,” says Dr. Rangala. “Children who have been mistreated and misused – they tend to forget even more. They start to believe there is no value, that there’s nothing inside. If we can shine a light for them, wake them up and help them see what we see – that they are true heroes, shining lights that inspire the rest of us, bright souls, worthy of respect, deserving of dignity, undeniably perfect. If we can help them to consider that idea, then there’s no stopping them.”

In addition to being an Emergency Medicine specialist, Dr. Rangala is a world-class dancer and choreographer in the Kuchipudi and Odissi styles of Indian classical dance. She’s been trained by senior gurus like Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam and Kelucharan Mohapatra. Featuring original choreography and a live orchestra, “Sacred” seeks to bring together the Indian-American community, art lovers, healthcare professionals, law enforcement, social service agencies and all in Chicagoland who care about children’s welfare and protection.

World class musicians will be accompanying the event. Saraswarhi Ranganathan, recently returned from a global peace tour, will be playing the veena, an ancient string instrument. Aravind Sundar is responsible for music composition, arrangement, and will provide vocal support. Keeping rhythm through voice and cymbals will be the multitalented Vinod Menon. On the bansuri, the wooden flute of India, will be the upcoming talent of Chethan Anant. The able and energetic Athrey Nadhan will provide rhythm on the mrdangam, an ancient drum of India.

Senior dancers, Dr. Radha Kotamraju, an ER doctor from Florida, and Dr. Vineela Chukkapalli-Kakarla, a scientist, will be joining senior students of Anand Dance to round out the ensemble.

"So many Indo-Americans, like me, care deeply about children and work in health care and social services," says Dr. Rangala. "I want to use Indian classical dance, my art form, to help unite everyone in this community who cares about preventing and overcoming sexual abuse.

“Dance art becomes a vehicle for us to recognize what is sacred and nurture it, in ourselves, in everyone else, in everything. I see this up close in children who have been through horrible suffering, but still find the ability to heal, to thrive, to flourish, to even forgive and care for the person who hurt them. Our event is being held to celebrate these perfect, amazing beings who have taught us so much.”

The recent passage of House Bill 5245 requires Illinois hospitals 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 is abused), 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 care.

In the past year, the Care Center treated nearly 160 patients from multiple counties including Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, McLean and Will. Entities and individuals referring children include Illinois Dept. of Children & Family Services, local police departments, FBI, Homeland Security, social service agencies, parents, friends, schools, military bases, healthcare 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.