Tulsa Center Uses 3,000 Pinwheels To Shed Light On Realities Of Child Abuse

More than 3,000 pinwheels are on display outside of a downtown Tulsa office building to help spread awareness about the realities of child abuse in the city. Employees at The Parent Child Center said families have stopped by just to ask how they can get involved and help. 

"I think there is something light and happy about a pinwheel, to bring awareness to a not so light and happy topic," said Licensed Professional Counselor Nicole Marolf with The Parent Child Center of Tulsa. 

If you are driving down Boulder Avenue in Downtown Tulsa, on a particularly windy day, you might hear thousands of pinwheels spinning in the wind before you see them.

"The heart of what we do is to prevent child abuse through education, treatment and advocacy," said Marolf. 

The blue and silver pinwheels represent 3,075 cases of child abuse and neglect that happened in Tulsa County last year.

"A lot of times, we are working with multigenerational trauma. It is very rarely just in the relationship we are seeing in our playroom - it has happened for generations in that family,” Marolf said. “So, we are trying to provide some hope, education, and treatment to hopefully prevent that from happening in further generations.”  

While the employees at The Parent Child Center face those statistics daily, they say the pinwheels are helping people in the community understand the reality of this issue and now, they are inspired to take action. 

"During April, we have more people stop by our front door and just ask what the pinwheels are about. Last week I was here working, and a mom and her teenage daughter came in because the teenage daughter stopped, saw the pinwheels, and read the banner and wanted to know what they could do to help," said Marolf. 

Marolf said getting involved to support the mission of The Parent Child Center of Tulsa is as easy as jumping on their website and joining a team or donating.

"We are not just jumping in once the abuse and neglect has happened, we do a lot of prevention on the front end," said Marolf. "It provides such hope for families."

To check for volunteer opportunities, click here or to donate, click here.