Providence Alaska Foundation, Alaska CARES dedicate rooms to child protection advocate

Morgan’s Place’ counseling rooms honor work of Judge Morgan Christen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Providence Alaska Foundation and Alaska CARES honored the child-advocacy work of Judge Morgan Christen during a donor-recognition event on Aug. 8 at Alaska CARES and Forensic Nursing Services of Providence (FNSP).

A highlight of the event was the dedication of therapy space in recognition of the work of Judge Christen. “Morgan’s Place” includes a private waiting area, two therapy offices, a play-therapy room and work space. The therapy offices are where many child victims of abuse receive their follow-up care and begin the process of healing.

Christen is a former Rasmuson Foundation board member. The room naming was included in recognition of Rasmuson Foundation’s generous gift toward construction of the new facility.

Southcentral Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, ConocoPhillips Alaska, The Travis Fund, The Hearst Foundations, and The Stanley Reitman Family were also honored during the event. The public fundraising campaign has raised nearly all of the $12.4 million needed for the construction of the new facility for Alaska CARES and FNSP. The new facility opened in April 2019.

“Alaska CARES was not a top-down idea; it started from the bottom up,” said Cathy Rasmuson, vice chair of the Rasmuson Foundation. “These individuals went outside and found best-practices in another state and said ‘this is what we need up in Alaska.’ And that’s how it grew, and now Alaska CARES is the best place for a young person to go to … and it’s people like this that get it all going.” 

Alaska CARES is the state’s largest Child Advocacy Center and serves children, from newborns to age 18 years, from around the state. Treatment is provided in a facility where victim advocates, law enforcement, child protection, tribal health, forensic medicine and mental health professionals are all located under one roof so they can work together to help victims.

Forensic Nursing Services of Providence (FNSP) provides medical-forensic exams to patients age 16 and over who have experienced a form of interpersonal violence, primarily sexual assault.

Representatives from the Office of Children’s Services, Anchorage Police Department, Alaska State Troopers, Southcentral Foundation, STAR (Standing Together Against Rape) and Federal Bureau of Investigation are co-located with caregivers from Alaska CARES and FSNP to provide care in a victim-friendly, secure space.

For more information about Alaska CARES, visit www.akcares.org.

About Providence Alaska Foundation

The Providence Alaska Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting the Mission of Providence Health & Services Alaska. The foundation strives to promote a healthy community by raising funds for programs, projects, initiatives and issues that address the health needs of Alaskans. Philanthropic funds raised via Providence Alaska Foundation support many programs, including Alaska CARES, family support services for The Children's Hospital at Providence and many others. Learn more: https://alaska.providence.org/services/giving

About Alaska CARES

Alaska CARES is an outpatient clinic located in Anchorage, Alaska. The clinic provides complete sexual and physical abuse evaluations for approximately 1,000 children each year, newborn to age 18 years, and 24-hour on-call services for cases that are considered emergent. Alaska CARES, a service of The Children’s Hospital at Providence, is a Children's Advocacy Center and a member of the National Children's Alliance, which is the governing body for more than 450 Children's Advocacy Centers across the United States. For more information about Alaska CARES, visit www.akcares.org.