Join local leg of Walk in My Shoes this Saturday

Valerie Deville, Director of Adult Therapy for the Betty Griffin House, reported to Historic City News that Lauren Book-Lim will walk throughout St. Augustine this weekend as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Floridians are invited to join the walk with Lauren; who endured childhood sexual abuse for six years at the hands of her nanny.

Along the way Lauren is visiting local rape crisis centers and sexual assault program centers in Florida’s major Cities.

Lauren will walk with St. Augustine’s Betty Griffin House on this Saturday, April 17th starting at 9:00 a.m. at the County Courthouse — ending at Flagler College, downtown.

“I want people of all ages to understand it is OK to tell someone about abuses that have happened to them,” said Book-Lim, Lauren’s Kids Founder and survivor of childhood sexual abuse. “I want people to see me walking, dealing with my ghosts and think, ‘I can face this.’”

There are 10 legs of the “Walk in My Shoes” journey, which will cover nearly 500 miles. The walk will end in Tallahassee on April 20th, with a welcoming rally at the state Capitol.

As a private, nonprofit agency, Betty Griffin House provides emergency shelter to abused women, men, their minor children. Other support services available to shelter residents and non residents include a 24-hour crisis hotline, individual and group counseling, forensic / medical rape exams, and legal assistance. Confidential individual and group counseling are available in all parts of St. Johns County including, Hastings, Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Johns, St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach. For more information or to make a donation, find us on Facebook or visit their website at www.bettygriffinhouse.org

If you or someone you know is being abused, please call our hotline at (904) 824-1555.

Photo credit: © 2010 Historic City News contributed photograph from Lauren’s Kids