We all have to play the hand life deals us. For Cam and her daughter Kiera, that hand was stacked with unthinkable trauma.

That’s why I’m writing to you today. We need your help, not for us – but for Cam and Kiera. A hard-working mother and her little girl forever scarred by events that occurred before Kiera could even speak.

One day, when Cam was coming home from work, she brought baby Kiera into her house, sound asleep in her car seat. Checking to ensure the front door was locked, Cam turned, and in a flash, everything went black.

Kiera’s grandfather had busted into the house and knocked out Kiera’s mom with a blow to the head using a seven-pound plumber’s pipe. As she lay unconscious, it was Kiera’s intense crying that caused her mom to come to, only to find Kiera flipped over, dangling upside down in her car seat.

For the next several hours Kiera’s grandfather held his daughter and grand-daughter hostage, threatening to kill them if they didn’t give him money.

Can you imagine their fear and terror?

Eventually Kiera and her mom escaped, but not without injury. Kiera’s mom had multiple broken bones, vision loss and permanent brain damage. Kiera experienced developmental and speech delays.

While Kiera’s grandfather received life in prison, the scars he inflicted on his daughter and granddaughter remain. But because of you, Kiera and her mom continue to have hope.

Kiera is enrolled in our Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention Program. She spends 30 hours a week in a pre-school setting that includes one-on-one and group services to help her heal.

“It has changed our lives,” says Kiera’s mom. “I remember that moment of hope when I thought this place can really help my daughter.”

Kiera and her mom have been able to reshuffle the deck life has given them, but their road to recovery is ongoing. There are thousands of kids like Kiera who can’t afford specialized treatment on their own. They need your continued help.

Won’t you be a part of their journey, sowing seeds of a beautiful future so that when life gives them unthinkable trauma, they can turn it into unbelievable triumph? Please give now.

With deepest gratitude,

Debora Matthews
President & CEO, The Children’s Center

P.S. Despite speech delays, Kiera is now an active, outgoing little girl, who according to her mom, says, “Hi” to everyone she sees. Your support makes a difference for kids like Kiera. Help other kids like Kiera. Give now.