Children affected by trauma can receive help at A Child’s Light in West Chester

WEST CHESTER — Help!

You are young, fighting mental illness and your parents can’t afford insurance or you are on medical assistance.

Leslie Holt, founder and director of A Child’s Light is there to help while working toward a solution.

Leslie Holt looks at a photo of her late daughter who was an inspiration for A Child’s Light. (BILL RETTEW/MEDIANEWS GROUP)

A Child’s Light funds trauma-informed, private mental health treatment for children ages 2-18 and has served 150 children to access long-term treatment.

“ACL funds kids who have been victims of sexual or physical violence, trafficking, loss of parents to fentanyl poisoning and other life-altering trauma,” Holt said Tuesday morning during an interview at the new offices of A Child’s Light at 1444 Phoenixville Pike, in a cottage located on the property adjacent to Treehouse World.

A Child’s Light has been operational since 2019 and opened the doors to the new office in June of 2023.

The 501(c)3 not-for-profit serves families from the Pottstown to Parkesburg areas and everywhere in between.

A great place for therapy at A Child’s Light. (BILL RETTEW/MEDIAENEWS GROUP)

ACL partners with therapists who understand the huge need for childhood mental health providers and the challenges families in Chester County face. With a waitlist approaching two years, Holt has developed another business model to help children who have suffered the worst types of abuse.

“Severe trauma is life-altering and our children and community deserve more,” she said. “We are investing in our kids.”

Holt knows of what she practices. She was a victim’s advocate for five years and was able to see firsthand the inefficiencies in the systems in place to help little victims.

Needy kids receive therapy at A Child’s Light. (BILL RETTEW/MEDIANEWS GROUP)

“This is not something specific to Chester County,” she said. “Across the US there is a childhood mental health crisis.”

Holt’s personal and professional life coincided with her own daughter’s sexual abuse at the hands of a trusted friend who bought her alcohol when she was 14 and encouraged her to drink to blackout. This one incident changed her daughter’s life forever.

Suffering from the attack and chronic Lyme disease pain, her daughter was poisoned by 3 methyl-fentanyl given to her without her knowledge and died. The daughter’s death was instrumental in the development of A Child’s Light and in her passion for helping little ones who suffered as she had from abuse.

“Seeing my daughter bravely struggle, I don’t want any other children to struggle as my daughter did,” Holt said.

The Phoenixville Pike facility hosts the Great Room where support groups and therapists meet with families. A huge picture window looks out onto Valley Creek and a whimsical treehouse can be seen from the backyard. The facility with much natural sunlight is located down a driveway in the back of Treehouse World. Wood floors and beams welcome clients and staff.

The Stone Room is a comfy, private space for one-on-one therapy and looks out to an abundance of beautiful mature trees.

“This is the type of environment that kids should come to for therapy!” Holt said while talking about the faculty in general. “Isn’t this space warm and inviting and not at all like a regular therapist’s office?

“What child wouldn’t want to come to therapy here?”

Plans call for adding art therapy in the fall, at a sun-filled room opening to a slate patio along with music therapy and boxing for empowerment and building self-esteem.

A Child’s Light is excited to welcome other children, while other professionals serve in the building, including Confident Parenting, 2BeSocial, and Imago OT, to its second floor.

A Child’s Light is honored to be the designated recipient of proceeds raised by this year’s Paoli Blues Fest on Sept. 30 at Wilson Farm Park. This event is open to all with food trucks and there will be activities for kids from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information and to support A Child’s Light, go to www.childslight.com or call 610-405-2968.

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