The Central Alabama Regional Child Advocacy Center planted their annual pinwheel garden on Tuesday afternoon along the fence at the organization’s space located at 420 Broad St.

Members of the community, including students from the Dallas County High School National Honors Society, came out to help plant the pinwheel garden and get a tour of the center.

“It’s really unnerving that there has to be a place like this,” said a Dallas County High School student.

“But I’m glad that there’s a place like this where children can go,” said another Dallas County High School student.

“I just wanted them [the kids] to know how many kids in their county are going through this [child abuse],” said Dallas County High School National Honors Society Sponsor Sara Day. “And if they know anyone who is suffering from abuse then they can refer them here.”

The tour of the Child Advocacy Center allowed members of the community to see how the center helps victims of child abuse cases.

The center is filled with toys, games and stuffed animals, creating a welcoming environment for the children.

“We want them to feel as comfortable as they can fell in a situation that is, by definition, uncomfortable,” said Child Advocacy Center Director Laurie Cothran.

The Child Advocacy Center conducts one-on-one interview with the victims which are monitored by Department of Human Resources representatives and law enforcement via closed circuit television.

The interviews are monitored and recorded so that the child victims don’t have to repeatedly be asked the same traumatic questions.

After the tours were given, attendees grabbed handfuls of pinwheels and stuck them in the ground along the fence by the Child Advocacy Center.

Three-hundred pinwheels were planted to represent the 300 solved cases of child abuse in Dallas County last year.

“The thing that hurts me today is that we ran out of room [for pinwheel’s]. There’s just too many [pinwheel’s]. One is too many,” said Dallas County Sheriff Mike Grantham.

Grantham also commended Cothran for all her efforts at the Child Advocacy Center.

“The job she does here at the Child Advocacy Center is unbelievable,” he said, “she helps us solve a lot of cases.”