For those of us who have never experienced child abuse or known someone who has, it can be difficult to truly appreciate the unbearable stress these kids suffer every moment of every day. If you have a hard time relating, try this... Take a moment to think about the stress in your life. Perhaps you get headaches at the office, chest pain, or anxiety. We all know that it can be tough out there climbing the corporate ladder. But at the end of the day, we get to go home and relax.

The stress generated by today's increasingly complicated world is troublesome, but it pales in comparison to the stress that these kids face on a daily basis.

Imagine what your stress level would be like, if on top of all your regular concerns, you spent the day terrified because someone in your family was likely to assault you when you got home…and you are a six-year-old child and have no way to defend yourself. Imagine what your stress level and mental health be if this happened ever day for many years. Sustained abuse causes severe, and in many cases unrepairable, psychological damage. Abused children are many times more likely to suffer from depression, suicide, drug abuse, eating disorders, and a host of other debilitating mental disorders. Even after the child leaves the home, their problems are far from over. Post traumatic stress is likely to haunt them for the rest of their life. Of course, kids don't think about the consequence of long term stress. They just think about surviving from one day to the next.

Compounding the problem is that most children are absolutely terrified to report the abuse. Of the 3 million cases of abuse reported each year, less than 1% are reported by the child. Instead, many of these kids runaway and end up on the street. They are left to survive by selling drugs or becoming child prostitutes. The future can be different if the child goes to the right place for help, but reporting abuse is scary for a child. They don’t know if they will be separated from family members, put into a worse situation, or maybe suffer repercussions from a parent if they are taken from a home, only to be returned later.

This is where project nightlight comes in. We explain the social care process that occurs once abuse is reported. The more children know about the process, the more confidence they have in the system and the more likely they will be to report the abuse. We also educate children on ways to access the resources available that can assist them in coping with abuse even if they aren't ready to report it, such as support groups and confidential hot lines.

Please help us put these kids into foster care instead of the streets.