Music that Matters

Local non-profit, Davis House Child Advocacy Center hosted a fundraising event on July 16, 2022, where some local and all beloved performers volunteered their talents for the organization.

Our local Davis House Child Advocacy Center is an important resource for the children and families of Lewis, Hickman, Perry and Williamson Counties. They provide investigative, advocacy, family support and therapeutic services to children, and their families, who have experienced sexual or significant abuse, or another traumatic event.

Davis House also provides trauma-informed community education that teaches adults how to spot someone struggling with abuse and how to deal with it at no cost.

DeAnna Darden-Carroll, Davis House Director of Services, said, "When children experience certain types of trauma, it can be difficult for them to tell someone about what happened. We offer them a child-friendly environment with staff who are specifically trained so that when they do have to tell what has happened to them, we can help reduce their trauma and offer support to their non-offending family."

Davis House works with law enforcement to investigate cases of child sexual abuse and other traumatic events, but instead of the children having to be interviewed by an officer wearing a uniform and badge [which can often intimidate a child], they get to speak with the trained adults at Davis House where the kids can color, play with stuffed animals and more, all within the comfort of a home-like atmosphere. Then if the case is taken to court, the child is lead through it by the same staff members they have built a relationship with at Davis House.

Darden-Carroll stressed the importance of the non-profit by giving shocking and heart-breaking statistics like 90 percent of children know their abuser, and only 12 percent of children actually tell someone what happened. This year alone, Darden-Carroll and her team have already helped over 200 new child clients; 115 from Hickman, 31 from Lewis and 58 from Perry.

The non-profit receives no federal or state funding. Their funding comes from private and business donations as well as grants. The cost to maintain one center is around $150,000 per year and there are two that our local Davis House is responsible for funding. Although they still serve Williamson County, they can no longer receive donations from Williamson County due to the new judicial split where Hickman, Lewis and Perry become a district of their own.

When Darden-Carroll and her team heard the news of the judicial split, they knew they had to start hosting more fundraisers to raise awareness for the non-profit.

The idea for Music Matters came from past musical fundraisers that were held with the help of Becky Newbold for their Validity Concert Series.

Lulu Roman, former HeeHaw performer, headlined the event where she sang gospel songs for the audience, took questions and talked about her life. Roman shared that she had a traumatic past of her own that led her to donate her time and talent to the fundraiser. At only two and a half years old, her mother sent her to an orphanage where she spent most of her life thinking of herself as a throwaway. She made her big break on the tv show HeeHaw, but still wasn't quite happy as she struggled with a drug addiction. She credited her recovery to God, and those that loved and supported her.

Local musicians, Carter Webb and his dad Mike Webb also performed at the fundraiser where Carter achieved having his name listed on the bill for the first time. Mike made his way into the music business with a banjo, guitar and dobro in hand. He has performed with Wilma Lee Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan, served as one-half of a musical duo with guitarist Charlie Collins for eleven years and was a member of the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band. He has made numerous appearances at the Grand Ole Opry and has even performed at the Ryman Auditorium. His son, Carter has performed with the likes of Marty Stewart.

Darden-Carroll said that the fundraiser was a great success and hopes to have more in the future.

"Everyone who donated their time as performers or audience members, we are so thankful to as well as those who helped behind the scenes like Rob Inman who provided audio equipment with Outside the Box Print and Promotion and David Adcox," said Darden-Carroll. "We also couldn't have had a better venue than Camryn's Place."

If you would like to help contribute to Davis House Child Advocacy Center's outreach to children in need, you can contact Darden-Carroll at 931-796-0813. Money's a little tight right now, and we get it! If you'd like to donate but don't have much wiggle room, you can do so with as little as buying the small essentials like snacks, paper towels, stuffed animals, toilet paper and various office supplies. Anything you can give will help this non-profit that matters.