✨ Our 2025 Impact Report is here! ✨
We’re proud to share the powerful work accomplished last year to bring safety, healing, and hope to children and families in our community. From trauma-informed therapy to coordinated advocacy and prevention services across Lee, Hendry, Glades, and Charlotte Counties, this report highlights how your support creates brighter futures every single day.
Thanks to the dedication of our team, partners, and supporters, more children were served, more families were strengthened, and more prevention education reached our community than ever before. Every milestone represents a child who was heard, believed, and supported. 💙💚🩵
👉 Take a look at the full 2025 Impact Report and see the difference we’re making together: /yearly-impact-report/
Our Community Outreach team was invited to attend the Ribbon Cutting celebration at Jaycee Park in Cape Coral last week. They had the opportunity to connect with community members about the services and support we provide to children and families in our community.
This event was especially meaningful because of the incredible advocacy and support of one of our newer Board Members, Melissa Mickey, Communications and Marketing Manager for the @cityofcapecoralgov , who joined our Board in July 2025.
Since joining, Melissa has been a strong champion for our mission, from helping secure the City of Cape Coral’s Child Abuse Prevention Month proclamation in April, to connecting our Community Outreach team with local schools, and most recently inviting us to participate in this wonderful community event.
We are grateful for community leaders like Melissa who use their voice, connections, and passion to help strengthen prevention efforts and bring awareness to the important work being done for children and families across our community.
Thank you to the City of Cape Coral for including us in this special day at Jaycee Park! @capecoralparks
We’re leveling up fatherhood in our community and inviting local partners to join us!
@dads_cac is seeking community partners to help create meaningful, hands-on experiences for fathers and their children (ages 5–12), as well as dads-only events.
We are looking for:
• Businesses or organizations willing to host dad-and-child events.
• Professionals who can share expertise or lead workshops for fathers and/or their children.
• Volunteer opportunities for dads and children to serve together in the community.
• Fun, social, activities designed specifically for fathers only.
Community partners are encouraged to collaborate in ways that fit their available space, schedule, staffing, and capacity. The program is flexible and willing to work within a partner’s timing, size, and logistical limitations.
If you’ve ever wanted to make a real impact on families in your community, this is your sign.
Let’s Level Up together.
Contact: JJ Wheeler
239-939-2808
[email protected][email protected]
The Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida is deeply grateful to the Jordan Ashley Gutheim Foundation and to Greg and Lorraine Gutheim for their extraordinary generosity and continued compassion toward the children and families we serve. 💙
Through a meaningful $45,000 gift made in honor of their daughter, Jordan, the CAC will be able to create an enhanced Group Therapy Room and make important improvements to our Kindness Corner, spaces designed to provide comfort, healing, and connection for children navigating trauma.
Jordan’s legacy continues to shine through the kindness and love her family shares with others. This gift is a beautiful reflection of the compassion that continues to impact so many lives throughout our community.
We are honored by the Gutheim family’s support and grateful for their commitment to creating safe, welcoming spaces where children can heal and feel cared for.
The Jordan Ashley Gutheim Foundation is held at the @collaboratorysocial . To learn more about the foundation visit: /
We’re excited to introduce Gee Gee DeLeon, our new Receptionist at CAC of SWFL! 💙
Gee Gee joins our team with a creative spirit, a love for helping others, and excitement for this new journey with CAC.
Get to know Gee Gee a little better:
🎨 Favorite hobbies include art, drawing, painting, listening to music, spending time with family, and visiting Venice Beach
✈️ Dream travel destinations: Paris and Italy
🐾 While she does not currently have a pet, Gee Gee lovingly remembers her Jack Russell-Beagle mix, Latte, who was a beloved part of her family for 14 years
🥁 Fun fact: Gee Gee is an artist who attended Music and Art High School in New York and later studied art and business in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She also took drum lessons as a teenager, and the drums remain her favorite instrument
Gee Gee was motivated to join CAC because she admires the mission and was excited for a new challenge and opportunity to grow. In her new role, she is most excited about learning more about the organization and finding meaningful ways to support both the office and the families we serve.
We’re so happy to have Gee Gee as part of the CAC family. Welcome to the team! 🎉
Today, we celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, foster moms, caregivers, and mother figures who provide love, comfort, strength, and support every single day. 💐
At the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida, we see firsthand the difference a caring and compassionate presence can make in a child’s life, especially during difficult times.
To all the moms and mother figures in our community, thank you for the countless ways you help children feel safe, loved, and heard. Wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day! 💖🌷
🐾 Beesley’s Spotlight: Laureen Romano & Roxy 🐾
For Laureen Romano, becoming a therapy dog team with Roxy came from a deeply personal place. While navigating a meaningful separation in her life, Laureen knew she needed somewhere intentional to channel her love. Pet therapy became that healing outlet, and she shares that this is exactly where their love belongs.
Roxy is silly, sassy, and spunky, with a personality that instantly lights up a room. She’s named after the bold and confident Roxie from Chicago, and true to her name, this Roxy brings plenty of sass and charm everywhere she goes. Through their work together, Roxy has shown Laureen that love and happiness do not need words. Her joyful spirit alone brings comfort and connection to so many.
Laureen hopes people understand that therapy dog work is about more than bringing a dog for a visit. It is about showing up with an open heart, being present, and offering genuine care and connection. In giving comfort to others, Laureen has found healing for herself too, and the experience has deeply shaped who she is today.
Beesley’s Paw Prints Therapy Dog Program is proudly sponsored by @unitedwaylhg , whose support helps make these meaningful moments possible throughout our community. 🐶💙
Thank you to United Way and Vistex Endeavor for including the children and families we serve at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida and our Pine Manor After School and Summer Program in one of their Days of Caring.
The Vistex team donated all the supplies to create 600 snack packs and took the time to assemble each one with care. Every bag was filled with 13 different treats like chips, granola bars, Slim Jims, Pop-Tarts, juice boxes, trail mix, and more.
These snack packs were shared with multiple nonprofits across our community, and we are grateful that the children we serve were part of this incredible effort.
We appreciate partners like United Way and Vistex who show up, give back, and help make our community stronger 💙
Today marks the start of National Nurses Week, and we’re proud to recognize the incredible nurses who are part of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida
Their compassion, clinical expertise, and steady presence help create a safe and supportive environment for every child and family we serve. In moments that can feel overwhelming and uncertain, their kindness and care help the children who come through our doors feel safe, supported, and heard during some of the most difficult times in their lives.
From left to right: Jean Rafacz, DNP APRN, Retired Pediatrician Dr. Lambert, Caitlin Hemquist, MSN APRN, and Kimberly Cole, MSN APRN. Bottom Right: Jean Blascoe, CPNP APRN.
Throughout the week, we celebrate the care, dedication, and impact they bring to our mission every single day.
Today, we recognize the incredible individuals who open their hearts and homes to children in need. 💙
On National Foster Parent Day, we celebrate the compassion, patience, and strength it takes to provide stability and care during some of the most difficult moments in a child’s life. Foster parents play a vital role in helping children feel safe, supported, and valued.
At the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida, we are grateful for the difference you make every single day. Your impact reaches far beyond today and helps shape brighter futures.
Thank you for being a source of hope. 💚
We’re grateful to @paycomsoftware and their Sales team for their generous $85,000 gift to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida.
As our payroll vendor, Paycom already plays an important role in supporting our day-to-day operations. Their decision to also invest in our mission makes this gift especially meaningful.
Through their President’s Club, they chose to give back to the local community they were visiting, helping ensure that children and families in Southwest Florida have access to critical services, hope, and healing.
We’re thankful for partners like Paycom who continue to show up for the children we serve and for the example they set through their commitment to giving back. 💚
CAC’s @dads_cac program was proud to celebrate the 3rd Annual “Daddy Did My Hair” event at the @pmtsfortmyers , where fathers and father figures came together to learn hands-on hair styling skills while spending meaningful, one-on-one time with their children.🩷
From mastering braids to perfecting ponytails, this event was about so much more than hair. It was about connection, confidence, and showing up in ways that matter. The room was filled with laughter, encouragement, and a whole lot of love as dads stepped outside their comfort zones to create special memories that will last a lifetime.
Programs like Level Up! Dads continue to strengthen families and build positive, lasting relationships. We’re grateful to everyone who helped make this event such a success and to the dads who showed up ready to learn, grow, and lead with love. 💫
To learn more about the Level Up! Dads program, check out our website: /prevention-services/
