The Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center in Troy will host its 2015 Proclamation Day Service at noon on Monday. The public is invited to this special event as the center brings Child Abuse Prevention Month to the forefront.

“The United States Department of Health and Human Services reported that in 2013 in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, an estimated 679,000 children were victims of child abuse and 1,484 children died,” said Temeka Teague, Pike Regional CAC intervention program director/family advocate. “The majority of child abuse cases stemmed from situations and conditions that are preventable when community programs and systems are engaged and supportive.”

Teague said Troy Mayor Jason A. Reeves and Brundidge Mayor Jimmy Ramage and members of the Pike County Commission will participate in the Proclamation Day event by signing a proclamation declaring the month of April Child Abuse Prevention month in Pike County.

The featured speaker will be Tajuan McCarty, who is founder of The WellHouse in Leeds. The Leeds is a non-profit, faith-based and Christ-centered agency dedicated to rescuing women from sexual exploitation/human trafficking.

“Tajuan McCarty has experience in social work and community outreach,” Teague said. “She is also a consultant on women’s issues. She has assisted women ex-offenders re-enter society. She helped implement Alabama’s first program devoted to helping chronically homeless, severely mentally ill women.”

Teague said McCarty is an advocate for abused and neglected children.

“We will all be inspired and motivated by what she has to say,” Teague said.

Those who attend Proclamation Day at the Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center on Monday will be invited to tour the facility and enjoy the fellowship of the event.

The Pike Regional CAC is located at 118 West Orange Street in Troy.