The Lisa Project is a child abuse awarness exhibit that immerses participants in the reality many children face. Organizations in Merced County hope to bring a full-size exhibit, like the one pictured, to the community.
Photo courtesy of The Lisa Project
Six rooms, each a different story, holding the secrets of a different child and a distinct type of abuse.
“Some secrets should be told,” is inked on posters and flyers.
The Lisa Project exhibit does exactly that. It bares the secrets that are often hidden by displaying what child abuse looks like in various situations. Its sounds — in children’s voices — detail all sorts of abuse. Showing temporarily in Merced County this past week, the exhibit forces guests to hear, see and feel child abuse and be immersed in the reality many children face.
Created by the nonprofit organization The Lisa Project, the multisensory exhibit raises awareness about child abuse through multimedia installations and audio narration. Named after a child abuse victim in California, the exhibit starts with the terrifying 911 call that Lisa, then only 6 years old, made.
“My mommy and dada are having a fight,” she screamed on the phone as she pleaded for the violence to stop. “Can you just send the police, please?”
Organizations in Merced County plan to establish a permanent location so high schools and community groups can use this “powerful” and “impactful” exhibit not only for child abuse awareness but for prevention and education.
“It starts the conversation,” said Phillip Schmauss, the program manager for ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Overcomers, a program that addresses the effects of childhood trauma.
Child abuse is one of many adverse childhood experiences, or traumatic experiences, that may affect children. Only 1 in 15 children will report abuse or neglect, said Dennis Haines, the family social services supervisor for the family resource center at the Merced County Office of Education. Of Merced County’s 281,000 people, nearly 30% (over 80,000) are under age 18. According to statistics, more than 5,000 of Merced County’s kids will report child abuse or neglect.
“That’s why (we’re doing this),” Haines said. “One is too many.”
Exhibit raises awareness
As of Thursday, more than 150 people, going through the condensed 10-minute exhibit, learned what a permanent space could provide for the community. With multimedia and auditory depictions of abuse, the exhibit featured different scenarios as visitors walked from one room to another.
In one room, the home of 8-year-old Evan is cluttered. The sink is full of dirty dishes; large roaches feast on empty fast food containers, and clothes are scattered on the filthy floor. His mom, Evan says on the audio, is rarely home. And when she is, she’s drunk, high on drugs or fighting with a man she’s brought home. School is a sanctuary for Evan; he can eat breakfast and lunch — a stark contrast from the weekend when his growling stomach wakes him at night. In his dreams, as he sleeps on a blanket on the floor, he imagines what life would be like if his mom wasn’t on drugs.
The next exhibit room is Ashley’s bedroom — beautifully decorated and filled with all the gadgets most teenagers desire — including a MacBook, an iPhone and shopping bags. Her family is wealthy, Lisa narrates as she introduces Ashley, whose diary tells a story that contradicts the smiling photos that adorn her room.
“Dear diary,” Ashley reads, “I have a cast on my arm. You know, from a ‘skiing accident.’”
Schmauss and Haines told EdSource that the different cases depict the reality that child abuse affects children from all walks of life.
“People don’t know what goes on behind the front door of somebody’s home,” Schmauss said. “So this exhibit really allows you to see that abuse comes in all shapes and sizes and that it affects everybody from every economic and cultural classification.”
Many people, Haines also noted, believe child abuse mainly happens in metropolitan areas or cities much larger than those in Merced County.
More than a dozen local cases lining a table outside the exhibit shows that Merced County isn’t immune, he said.
“These newspaper articles are only a small representation of what is happening in Merced County,” a paper on the display table states. “If all of the child abuse cases were displayed, the walls would be covered.
“The names and locations may change, but the stories stay the same.”
Lasherica Thornton/ EdSource
The note “This is me,” stood out to Dennis Haines, a family social services supervisor in the Merced County Office of Education because, he said, it shows that many people are enduring similar trauma to what they witnessed in the exhibit.
For many attending, the exhibit was a reminder that they’re not alone. On a wall of reflections where exhibit participants could leave notes were messages such as, “Don’t be scared to speak up;” “It’s never OK to suffer in silence;” “Stay strong,” and “It’s not your fault.”
The most powerful, Haines said, was a three-word message: “This is me.”
But why is it important for the school community?
Though an important commodity, raising awareness about child abuse is just one benefit of the exhibit, the Lisa Project details. Sparking conversations and inspiring action, whether one child at a time or collectively, is the project’s goal.
Children need to be heard, Haines said, acknowledging the generational cycles of abuse and the pressure to remain quiet.
“It’s time for us to talk about this,” he said.
In many of the scenarios featured in the exhibit, the kids suffered in silence. Evan’s mom warned him that he’d be taken away from her if he told anyone. Maria’s mother said telling anyone that her father raped her would ruin the family.
“Sometimes, our kids think that’s how life is supposed to be,” Haines said.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, the exhibit said in many different ways. And visitors agreed.
“Love shouldn’t hurt,” was written on some of the notes left by guests on the reflection wall.
Photo courtesy of The Lisa Project
After walking through The Lisa Project, participants can reflect on their experience. Some leave notes of “You are loved” and “You are not alone” while others document the “heartbreaking” yet “powerful” experience.
“Imagine 2,000 kids (from a school) going through this,” Haines said. “That’s the next generation.”
And for students being abused, Schmauss said he hopes they realize there’s help – and that it’s OK to seek that help. The exhibit provides an avenue for participants to seek services, local resources and onsite counseling, especially if something they see or hear is triggering.
“It’s not just walking through the exhibit (that’s important),” he said. “Once you go through the exhibit, it’s making that connection and saying, ‘Here’s what’s available in the community.’
“Hopefully, it will educate students so they can come forward, get the help, seek the help, talk about it, recognize it and even identify it with their own friends.”
So how can the exhibit be permanent?
ACE Overcomers, the Merced County Office of Education, Adverse Childhood Experiences Informed Network of Care, Valley Children’s Healthcare, the Merced Family Resource Center and the city of Merced are working to make the exhibit a permanent fixture in the Merced County community.
But it takes between $80,000 and $100,000 to establish a permanent, full-size exhibit with a mobile trailer for use across the county that stretches across nearly 2,000 square miles. The one-time costs would fund the props and items filling the exhibit, audio devices in English and Spanish and the mobile trailer.
“As a mobile exhibit, we can reach various locations in Merced County, ensuring accessibility for all community members,” Schmauss said.
The temporary traveling exhibit, which sat at the Merced Civic Center for last week’s presentations, was a way to garner the funding for a permanent full-scale space; potential funders toured the exhibit Tuesday.
If The Lisa Project gets enough funding, organizers “can create greater awareness and empathy within our community, leading to more support for affected children and families,” Schmauss said.
Once the funding is secured, a Merced County location would be California’s fifth site for the exhibit. The Lisa Project is already located in Kings, Tulare and Madera counties and in Stockton, all of which line the San Joaquin Valley. A Merced County location — between the Tulare and Stockton sites — can increase awareness and expand the project’s impact across the Central Valley, Schmauss said.
An exhibit in Merced would be based out of the County Office of Education and would be utilized by high schools and other organizations throughout the year.
Schools, according to Schmauss, would integrate The Lisa Project into their curriculum and conduct educational sessions for students, parents and educators.
“By sharing this exhibit with schools, we can educate our children about child abuse, fostering a culture of protection and support,” he said.
Local entities could also host awareness campaigns, workshops and discussions “to engage the community in meaningful conversations about child abuse.”
Impact beyond the classrooms
The impact of the child abuse exhibit Schmauss envisions would go beyond the walls of a classroom.
By visiting the exhibit, for example, educators and community groups that work with children can question the prevention and intervention strategies of their school, school district or agency, Schmauss said.
“Maybe there’s nothing in place,” he said about a lack of prevention and intervention mechanisms to protect children.
With the immersive exhibit of The Lisa Project, he said, people from top leadership to the front-line staff will be “informed about trauma, abuse, household dysfunction and neglect, and they’ll create a game plan to address those issues.”
Mireya Aguilar, a migrant education program teacher who lives and works in Merced County, said she has gained knowledge and insight that she will use in her classroom and in the community.
Even though it was heartbreaking for her to experience, it’s important for parents, educators, school districts and the entire community to see, she said.
“A lot of people have the same issues,” she said, “and they don’t talk.”
But, as the exhibit showed, and as attendants noted, “some things shouldn’t be kept silent.”