Eastern North Carolina families now have a more unified, comprehensive resource for child health, safety and wellness. ECU Health’s Tender Evaluation, Diagnosis and Intervention for a Better Abuse Response, or TEDI BEAR, Children’s Advocacy Center and ECU Health’s Center for Child and Family Wellness (CCFW) have officially come together under one roof, improving coordinated prevention and intervention services for children and families across the region.
The move was celebrated during a special event highlighting April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. Team members, community partners, law enforcement and ECU Health leadership gathered to recognize the significance of the co-location and the expanded opportunities it brings.
“We can’t raise healthy communities if we don’t raise healthy children,” said Tara Stroud, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at ECU Health Medical Center. “Bringing these teams together creates a comprehensive program that lets us move forward in a different way.”
For Noemi Rivera, director of TEDI BEAR and the Mt. Olive Children’s Advocacy Center, the partnership represents a natural alignment of missions.
“We see children at the request of law enforcement or child protective services when there are allegations of abuse,” Rivera said. “We provide advocacy services, forensic interviews, medical exams and refer them into our services for mental health.”
TEDI BEAR and Mt. Olive Children’s Advocacy Center serve approximately 1,000 children each year, offering a full continuum of services that would otherwise require families to navigate multiple agencies on their own. Rivera emphasized that without a Children’s Advocacy Center like TEDI BEAR, families would face fragmented care such as visiting the Department of Social Services, police, hospitals and mental health providers separately.
“Children deserve to tell their story one time,” she said. “Our forensic interviewers make that possible.”
CCFW complements that mission by focusing on prevention. CCFW Director Bonnie Jean Kuras described the center as a hub for programs that keep children safe, healthy and out of the hospital.
“We focus on prevention of injury, prevention of illness and the opportunity for families to manage their stress,” Kuras said. “Safe driving, safe sleep, suicide prevention, our Pediatric Asthma Program and school health programs – anything and everything that keeps children well.”
Together, the two organizations form what Kuras calls “two dynamic mission‑aligned ecosystems,” united in their commitment to strengthening families and communities.
The new shared building is a trauma‑informed environment designed to support children during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Rivera noted the importance of creating a space that feels safe and hopeful.
“When children come here after experiencing the worst thing that’s ever happened to them, the building matters,” she said. “When they leave with a teddy bear, we’re sending them back into the world with hope.”
TEDI BEAR and Mt. Olive helped children from 31 counties last year. The combined efforts of TEDI BEAR, Mt. Olive Children’s Advocacy Center and CCFW support not only individual children but the broader community. That work relies heavily on their partnerships with law enforcement, district attorneys, mental health providers and medical professionals who Rivera said were on the front lines of abuse cases.
“Our partners are the boots on the ground,” Rivera said. “We cannot do what we do without them.”