Children's Advocacy Center in Hoffman Ests. gets makeover

The interior of the Children's Advocacy Center in Hoffman Estates will have a new look by the end of this month.

Work began Friday on $20,000 of interior renovations, which include new paint, carpeting, furniture, toys and decor in the center's waiting room, reception areas and forensic interview rooms.

The center provides free support for children who have experienced sexual abuse or severe physical abuse.

Executive Director Matt Parr said the center has been working to get renovations done to the building for a while. Last year, it found help through the Early Childhood Education Center in Schaumburg, which is a Bright Horizons Child Care center.

The education center agreed to fundraise for the Children's Advocacy Center and was successful in raising the $20,000 with help from Zurich North American insurance and the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, which regularly partners with nonprofits to create “Bright Spaces,” which are warm and inviting areas at community agencies for children in crisis.

“We would not have been in a position, especially given the way funding is at this point, to take on a project with the cost involved and the amount of work that needed to be done,” Parr said.

Work will occur over the next few weekends. Parr said a ribbon cutting will take place on April 30, the last day of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, to celebrate the renovations.

“It's really going to, I think, become a much more friendly and welcoming place and that's very important in the work that we do,” he said.