Show notes
What do you do when a child discloses abuse, and the next step is making them repeat that story to four different people?
Mark Jones is CEO of the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre, now housed inside the Sheldon Kennedy Centre of Excellence in Red Deer. After the 2015 suicide of Lindsey Moore, a close friend of his daughter, and years of watching kids get passed between police, children's services, and the courts, Mark helped build something different: a single building where every partner, from RCMP to Alberta Health Services to the justice system, works under one roof so a child only has to tell their story once. What started as three staff in a 1,500 square foot office has grown into a 65,000 square foot facility handling five to ten cases a day, funded in a way that keeps the doors open without leaning on government forever.
In this episode, Mark walks through how the centre actually works: the forensic interview process, the quilt every child wraps around themselves on their way out, and the business model that turned government leases into funding for the centre's own operations. We also get into the harder parts, including the reality that 96 percent of victims know their abuser, the warning signs parents and teachers often miss, and how a school principal's decision to act after Lindsey's death became a $29 million building that other provinces are now asking him to help replicate.
🔹 THE ORIGIN — Losing Lindsey Moore and the disclosure that made Mark say "we have to do something"
🔹 THE SYSTEM — Why kids used to repeat their story four times, and how one building fixed it
🔹 THE WARNING SIGNS — What changes in a child's behavior parents and teachers often miss
🔹 THE MODEL — How government leases fund a self-sustaining building instead of endless fundraising
⏱️ What's Inside:
00:00 - What the Centre of Excellence actually is
- How Lindsey Moore's death started the movement
- Going from one shared office to a 65,000 sq ft building
- Why 96 percent of victims know their abuser
- The signs parents should watch for at home
- Sheldon Kennedy's role from day one
- The significance of the quilt every child takes home
- Building a self-funding model instead of relying on donations
- What restoration and healing actually look like
- What happiness means after years of this work
Connect with Mark Jones and the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre:
🌐 Website → centralalbertacac.ca
📸 Instagram → instagram.com/centralabcac
📘 Facebook → facebook.com/CentralABCAC
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#ChildAdvocacy #ChildAbusePrevention #MentalHealthAwareness #SheldonKennedy #ProtectOurKids #TraumaInformedCare #RedDeerAlberta #NonprofitLeadership #ParentingTips #TheCurrencyOfHappiness