Be the change: Kimberly Johnson Creating Safe Spaces with Children’s Legacy Center

Imagine you must share your most personal, traumatic experience with a total stranger. You must answer this person’s probing questions in an unfamiliar setting, reliving a deeply troubling series of events that you wish you could forget. 

Now imagine you have to do that again. And again. And again. 

Now imagine you’re only a child.

In pursuit of truth and justice, social workers, prosecutors, medical professionals, law enforcement investigators and victim advocates all need to hear the firsthand accounts of the children they’re defending. Although designed to protect children, this kind of legal system inadvertently asks them to repeatedly recount their worst moments. 

When Kimberly Johnson learned that abused and exploited children in Shasta County often endured six to ten interviews about their trauma before the case even reached the courtroom, she knew the North State could do better. 

Kimberly Johnson’s passion to protect abused and exploited children led her to co-found Children’s Legacy Center and work with other agencies to expand services to children throughout Shasta County. Photo by Kristen Schmidt

Community Volunteering Inspires Innovative Solution

At the time, Kimberly was immersed in overseas anti-trafficking and orphan care work, “spending an average of six months a year all around the world and really pretty blind to what was happening in my own backyard,” she says. So, she jumped into research and local volunteer opportunities in Redding, eager to find ways to protect children and families. As she began to learn more about the occurrence of and response to trauma, abuse and trafficking in the North State, Kimberly dreamed of coordinating all the responders so victims only had to tell their story once.

In 2016, Kimberly co-founded Children’s Legacy Center (CLC), alongside chief deputy district attorney Sarah Murphy. CLC unites and aligns all the government agencies and medical partners involved in defending and restoring exploited youth in Shasta County. Notably, this partnership means that CLC conducts one-on-one, trauma-informed interviews in a non-threatening, self-paced environment. 

While the child meets with the interviewer, the rest of the team observes the interview from another room, feeding questions to the interviewer through an earpiece so they get the information they need from a child’s single interview.

CLC Offers Whole-Family Support

Beyond the interview, CLC also provides therapy and advocacy to help victimized children and families on the road to healing and recovery. While the forensic interviews focus on children, CLC’s behavioral health clinic serves both children and adults who have faced trauma. Kimberly says, “We provide whole-family care, both to those we serve through CLC and to the broader community who have been impacted by trauma.”

Shannon Phillips, chief operating officer of The McConnell foundation, describes Kimberly as “brilliant, funny, approachable and easy to be around,” and says Kimberly has “a magnetic personality.” Shannon remembers getting a call from Kimberly as she began dreaming up CLC. “My first takeaway from her was that she had this concept: Embrace love. She wanted to do something that’s meaningful for kids.” 

Teaming Up to Provide a Safe Space, Expand Services

Over the years, Shannon has watched Kimberly both refine and expand her mission and vision for CLC, which has included competing for and winning statewide grants. In 2024, Kimberly led CLC to form a partnership with One Safe Place (OSP), a nonprofit organization fighting against domestic and family violence, sexual assault and other types of abuse. “Kimberly is further dialed into how to do systemic change than the average person,” says Shannon. 

Led by her unique vision and perspective, Kimberly and the CLC and OSP teams – which operate under a shared leadership structure while remaining distinct organizations – have expanded their focus to include foster youth. Through a research initiative called the Aster Project, developed in partnership with The McConnell Foundation, Kimberly says her teams “are working to better understand the barriers to serving foster youth in the region and identify what it would take to close those gaps.”

Kimberly and the team after the Give Redding Holiday Food Drive

Kimberly recognizes her role as just one seat at the table. 

“Ultimately, all of the partners were the ones who designed the core work that we do every day,” she says. As CLC celebrates its 10th anniversary, Kimberly celebrates the depth and breadth of its organizational growth and anticipates new opportunities to build on the established foundation. “It finally feels really steadfast and steady,” she says. “There’s something really beautiful – especially for kids and families and for our staff – about reaching a place that is steady.”

Meeting People Where They are in Their Trauma Experience

If you or someone you know has experienced any sort of victimization or trauma, Kimberly encourages you to reach out. One Safe Place offers a 24-hour crisis hotline for immediate support and CLC provides access to therapy and behavioral health services. Both agencies accept referrals and direct inquiries in response to all sorts of trauma, from domestic violence to hate crimes or even spiritual abuse. “Everyone’s experience and how they define trauma is different,” Kimberly says. “We’re here to meet you where you are, so reach out.”

To better serve those who reach out, CLC and OSP offer a 24-hour crisis hotline. “We’re constantly looking for volunteers who are willing to be part of our crisis hotline, because that allows us to relieve our staff,” Kimberly says. Hotline responders are well equipped through an intensive 66-hour training before ever responding to a call. “It’s a pretty heavy investment,” Kimberly says, “but you know you’re doing really noble work.” 

Thanks to the noble work of people like Kimberly and the talented teams she leads, children and families in the North State have options of safe places to go.