Now through the end of April, The Lisa Project, a traveling exhibit which brings to life the horrors of child abuse, will focus on raising awareness and gaining support in Stanislaus County.
The long black trailer is located near the Dale Road side of the Vintage Fair Mall and is open to the public Thursdays and Fridays between 4 and 8 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.
Admission is free and the exhibit takes about 25 minutes to walk through and hear all of the stories. The exhibit is rated PG-13 for the mature content.
Once inside the trailer, viewers will receive an audio recording that will play throughout the self-guided tour. Each room is designed to give the viewer a multi-sensory experience of the various scents, visuals and overall reality of what victims of child abuse are subjected to.
The marijuana smell mixed with the real 911 call of a six year old named Lisa screaming and crying for help following a bloody fight with her parents sets the tone for the rest of the tour.
“My little sister is just lying there, my mother is bloody, please, please send someone, my step daddy’s drunk!”
The call continues with the woman from dispatch trying to ask questions and calm six year old Lisa down until the police arrive.
Once the 911 call ends, visitors hear a chime which means it is time to move past the black curtain to another room. Five more stories, each in a different room, reveal a true story about a child who experienced child abuse. The content ranges from neglect to mental abuse and sexual abuse.
Jan Hill, Coordinator of the Lisa Project, said the goal of the exhibit is to really put a face to those who are abused and to make people aware that the problem is not far from home, it is present here in Stanislaus County.
“Child abuse is not just in drug houses; it often can be right next door and that’s what is so troubling,” Hill said. “It really gives you perspective and the exhibit takes you through a very thought-provoking process.”
The traveling exhibit has gone to several counties and is tailored to each area with statistics from that particular area as well as various articles of child abuse that occurred in those towns. The exhibit highlights various Stanislaus County child abuse statistics, stating that in 2012 there were 9,300 reports of child abuse; 2,000 of which were confirmed cases of child abuse in Stanislaus County. That averages to five cases of child abuse per day.
According to the Children’s Crisis Center of Stanislaus County, there are over 3 million cases of child abuse are reported in the United States each year.
The exhibit ends with one of the abused children speaking as an adult about how she found herself in the same situation as her mother, using drugs and involved in a highly abusive relationship and she knew she had to break the cycle. The narrator explains that nearly 30 percent of child abuse victims grow up and abuse their children.
Visitors will have multiple resources available on site inluding professionals and staff. To find out more on The Lisa Project, to donate or volunteer, visit thelisaproject.org.