It was after discovering that so many children were getting abused by close family members that At The Ark was established as a support website. As an affected family, the founders were feeling as if they were the only people going through and experiencing such a horrifying ordeal and as if nobody was available to provide any holistic help. Soon they started realizing that indeed a need was present in the community for supporting those families left reeling with emotions and not even knowing what to do or turn next.
The History & Work of ATA
The Helping Hands Program has been initiated to tackle this challenge at the family level. The ATA trained volunteers are giving support to the families from the point of disclosure, evaluating the needs of the family and also activating the many other organisations that have the capacity of coming along to stand with ATA and the families. ATA will support the families all through the whole journey until when they decide they no longer our support.
The free seminars on Speaking the Unspeakable are aimed at equipping the church and similar organisations towards support families in understanding more about this perennial tragedy. They are convinced that the more they 'Speak about the unspeakable' they can conqueror and overcome the secret and usher in freedom to offenders as well as victims.
Safe Ark Zone, a network of churches takes safeguarding children very seriously. SAZ is operating in conjunction with the seminars on ‘Speaking the Unspeakable’ initiative. Support is accorded to the churches by At The Ark as they are also supporting their affected families.
In 2010 At The Ark was fully recognized in Queensland Australia as a charity.
The ATA Believe
At The Ark is a family that has experienced a lot working with people going through the challenging ordeal of coping with kids that have sexually been abused by a close family member! It is only through the strong faith in Christ that ATA has managed to survive all that it has faced.
Often we have reflected on how challenging it really must be for those who lack faith to be able survive through such shattering events. We have learned through faith that Christ has been walking with us.
Ways of Helping
In any non-profit organization, volunteers are always the bloodline, the very heartbeat of the organization and it’s not any different with At The Ark. It would not be possible to do what is being achieved without the amazing support of the many special volunteers.
If you are interested in helping ATA, there are lots of methods through which that could be done:
- Volunteering
- Donating or Becoming an ATA 'Friend'
- Becoming a prayer partner
- Becoming a H3 (the Helping Hands Hero program)
- Becoming a Safe Ark Coordinator within your own church
- Helping with fundraising Events of ATA
- Helping with the Seminar on Speaking the Unspeakable
- Assisting in Administration
Helping Hands Program
Helping Hands Program, managed by ‘At The Ark’ is basically all about lending or giving a OUR hands to those families which are having to grapple deal with an issue of ‘fall out’ from the effects of child sexual abuse.
ATA has trained a number of volunteers (H3’s) whose role is to go and visit those families when it s most convenient. The H3’s ensure that families who are affected are receiving assistance with their needs through ensuring that specific and particular organizations that are in a position of helping get involved.
