April is child abuse prevention month. Although this is a difficult subject to discuss, it is an important one. Please listen with an open mind and be mindful of any emotional triggers you may have in listening to this episode.

As many of you know, I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and only began sharing my story a few years ago. I had the privilege of touring a local child advocacy center in Orlando called Kids House and interviewing its CEO, Juliette Kong.

Kids House is dedicated to preventing child abuse and helping child abuse victims and families by providing coordinated services in a safe, child-friendly environment from report and investigation
through treatment and resolution.

Juliette has been working with Kids House for 20 years. Her passion for preventing child abuse and working with the victims and their families is unwavering. I was completely in awe, speechless, and in all honesty in tears after experiencing the ‘walk in your shoes tour’.

I challenge you to take a moment to think about any child in your life that you care about and how you would feel if you found out they were being physically, sexually, or emotionally abused every day.

There are many ways to support child abuse prevention. I encourage you to find a local center and visit to learn more about the reality of child abuse. If you are in the Orlando-Sanford area, Kids House is an incredible facility with the most caring staff.  Please check out their website where you can make a donation, volunteer, and gather resources to help prevent child abuse.

Again, please be mindful of any emotional triggers that you may experience from hearing about child abuse in this episode, but I implore you to listen to this very important and impacting conversation with Juliette.

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Kids House

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CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE: 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873)

About Juliette Kong

Juliette Kong graduated from Rollins College with her Master of Business Administration and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice. Juliette has been employed with Kids House of Seminole, Inc. since February 2001 where she first held two positions, Child Advocate/ Intervention Specialist and Case tracking Coordinator. As a Child Advocate, Juliette worked directly with victims of abuse and their families by providing crisis intervention, referrals to services, and support. As the Case tracking Coordinator, Juliette was instrumental in implementing the database used by the agency to track all families being served by the organization. In 2006, Juliette made the transition to the Quality Assurance Director and has taken on the lead role in the development and implementation of the agency’s quality assurance policies and procedures. Juliette is also responsible for maintaining all agency contracts. In 2007, Juliette’s role was expanded to include being the Agency Supervisor for a new community prevention program, Family Connections. As the Family Connection Agency Supervisor, Juliette maintains the oversight for the agency program as well as assisting in the program improvements. The Family Connection Program was eliminated in 2012 and during that year Juliette’s title was changed to Compliance Director. 2014 Juliette was promoted to Associate Executive Director with Kids House of Seminole, Inc. As the Associate Executive Director Juliette oversees four programs and the agency’s facilities and maintenance, is the proxy to the executive director, and partners with other community agencies. In 2020 Juliette was named the Chief Executive Officer of Kids House by the Board of Directors. Juliette is dedicated to leading the agency and continuing to make positive changes in the lives of children and families.

Juliette is a member of the Florida Crisis Response Team where she has participated in mass crisis responses related to fires, airplane crashes, and mass shootings including Pulse Night Club and Stoneman Douglas High School. As a member of the Florida Crisis Response Team Juliette provides victims of mass tragedies crisis intervention services and resources.

THE SIFU MIMI CHAN SHOW CREDITS Host: Mimi Chan Intro Music: Mike Relm

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