MAY 2018 | SARASOTA SCENE 65
Embracing Our Differences, an organization
he founded that uses the power of art and
education through its annual exhibition
and educational programs and initiatives to
expand consciousness and open the heart
to celebrate diversity.
The McGillicuddys have forged many great
friendships in town and have received
the support of many other community
philanthropists for their endeavors, all of
whom are very grateful for their efforts.
One noted Sarasota philanthropic couple
who are among the grateful is Skip and Gail
Sack. Skip sums it up this way: “Both Gail
and I look up to Dennis and Graci. They are
our role models for what it means to give
and get involved in what they are giving to.
They define the term philanthropy. When
they get involved, they really get involved.
And not only with money, but with efforts
that come from their hearts.”
For Graci and Dennis, the passion is
evident and measurable; the enthusiasm
they share for positive change they hope
will be contagious both within the local
community and nationwide. They are putting
their blood, sweat and tears behind the All-
Star Children’s Center, and their belief in its
importance is something they feel deep in
their bones.
The Center will be built under the guidance
of the expert eye of Johns Hopkins All
Children’s Hospital, who will help ensure
that the latest evidenced-based protocols
and treatments will be delivered to all the
children on campus and in the outpatient
program.
It is something that they hope will build a
brighter future in foster care and something
they both know is too important to put off
for tomorrow. Dennis sums up the mantra
of the center and the couple’s collective
approach this way: “Transforming foster care
with innovation, science and compassion.
Both Graci and I realize that to break this
cycle of abuse, you have to bring science
and compassion to it.”
The cycle starts when a child is abused by a
parent or relative, a high percentage of whom
were abused themselves. Foster care agencies
struggle to find a place for these children
in an already-overcrowded system. Siblings
may be separated, deepening the trauma,
while extended family members and foster
on the town
table and put out of our minds. The facts are
staggering: there are seven reported cases
of abuse or neglect every day in Sarasota,
resulting in over 1,600 children being in
our local foster care system,” Dennis adds.
“I’ve been on this mission and path, but
because Dennis has jumped in, we are
now dealing with it on real scientific basis
with which we can break that cycle of child
abuse,” added Graci.
Dr. Robert Block, the noted former President
of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has
stated, “Adverse childhood experiences
(trauma) are the single greatest unaddressed
public health threat facing our nation today.”
Now, because of a comprehensive system
of trauma-informed care, there is hope. The
latest research in brain science has proven
trauma can be healed in a relatively short
period of time. This science rests on the
discovery of neuroplasticity where thoughts
and emotions recorded in the brain’s cells
are dynamic and can change over the course
of lifetime, which contrasts previous beliefs
that cells recorded from early childhood
experiences remain static.
Dennis is excited about the new pathways
to hope and healing. “Essentially what it
does is create new neuropathways so when
a person is triggered into bringing a memory
back, instead of going into the flight, fight or
freeze mode, this therapy allows the child
to develop new neuropathways so that they
understand that they have other choices
besides fight, flight or freeze.”
“You never know what a trigger can be. It
can be a smell, like a certain perfume, a
sound, such as a melody or song, merely
a look, or even a certain word that was
uttered when that child was being abused.
They can all be triggers. Most importantly,
what this means is that if we can help a
child trace their trauma to its source, we can
work with them to consciously build new
habits, responses, choices and new ways
of dealing with them instead of repeating
the old ones,” Graci adds while sharing a
hopeful smile.
These are encouraging words, to say the
least, from a couple who are as pragmatic as
they are passionate in solving this problem
that affects so many children and families.
“
Come invest with
us. Children are
our future and our
greatest investment,
per iod.
– Graci McGillicuddy
i”
parents lack the resources and the training
to deal with traumatized children. Finally,
the child’s trauma manifests in a variety of
ways, which may lead to multiple foster
home placements. It’s a heartbreaking
cycle that continues to go around and
around, and as clear as it is frustrating,
the cycle will continue to repeat itself.
Both Graci and Dennis are firm believers
in the science component of the treatment
that will be offered through the All Star
Children’s Center. They know all too well
that the old ways aren’t good enough,
and that getting it right only part of the
time will not do.
“I remember a colleague saying to me,
‘If I could put the words child abuse in a
bottle and throw it out to sea and fifty years
from now someone finds that bottle and
says ‘child abuse, what’s that?’ It would
be because they wouldn’t know what it
is because it doesn’t exist anymore. Then
we would have broken the cycle of child
abuse.’ That’s my dream.”
“I always wanted to create a nurturing,
loving place for children to be when
they have been taken away from home.
However, that would never break the
cycle, because no matter how loving and
nurturing the home is, without traumabased
care it’s going to continue, because
children will always have those triggers,”
said Graci.
“Child abuse is such a dark secret, and
therefore it’s easy to sweep under the