River
"Thank you all for coming here today. It means the world to me to see everyone that showed up today. This place means the world to me, and I am so happy to finally see it open. When I was a child, I dreamed of a place like this that I could go to to get help. I dreamed of a place that would take me in and protect me from the people who were abusing me. A place that wouldn't just call my family to find out what was going on and then take their word for it. Believing them when they would say, 'Oh, she's just clumsy' or "She hurts herself for attention.' A place that would believe me over them and protect me from them. From as far back as I can remember, I have dreamed of a place such as this. And now I get to make it a reality. When I was a child, I lived in a house where everyone th
