New labyrinth offers solace for children at Washington County Children's Justice Center

ST. GEORGE — The Washington County Children's Justice Center aims to give children a safe place to process difficult things, and Monday the center added one more thing to do just that — a labyrinth.

"What a blessing to have a place like this and to be able to participate and bring some healing to the ones that need it the most," said labyrinth designer Aurora Serrano.

Serrano has long been an advocate for children as a former teacher and school counselor. She said labyrinths have been critical in her own healing, and putting a labyrinth in the Children's Peace Garden at the justice center has been a goal of hers for many years.

"Labyrinths are meaningful because it's a journey from within," Serrano told KSL. "I always look for ways to meditate, and one of them is a labyrinth. I saw the space in the peace garden and knew there needs to be healing in this space."

Labyrinths date back thousands of years and have often been used for meditation, healing and spiritual connection by taking walkers through spiraling paths toward a center that is often referred to as the "heart." Serrano said she hopes this labyrinth will offer children a calming reprieve.

"These children are going through what children shouldn't have to go through," Serrano said. "If we can create healing, then we are creating a better world."

Children' Justice Center director Kristy Pike said this addition to the Children's Peace Garden is one of the many resources at the center, adding that the entire garden has been donated by members of the community.

"We used to have a piece of grass here, and (the labyrinth) is going to be used so much more than the grass was," Pike said. "It's a quiet place where people, children, families and law enforcement can pause and reflect — maybe drop a heavy burden for a moment before they go about the rest of their day."

St. George Police Capt. Johnny Heppler was at the ribbon-cutting event on Monday. Heppler is in the investigations department, and he said places like the peace garden are critical in helping children who have experienced things no child should ever experience.

"The St. George Police Department partners very closely with the Children's Justice Center so that we have a safe place to interview child victims of crime," Heppler said. "This is where victims can spend time with mental health professionals so they can have a place to heal and help them collect their thoughts.

"When you've experienced something so traumatic as a sex offense or are a victim of violence, it's nice to have a place where you can ... feel safe and connect with people who are going to help you navigate what the rest of this process looks like, whether it comes to court, whether it comes to healing, or whether it comes to how your life is going to look like on the other side of being a victim."

With April being Child Abuse Prevention Month, having the labyrinth put in now was perfect timing, Pike said.

"All has been donated by the community, which speaks so much to the love that our community has for its children," she said. "You can judge a community by how they treat their children. There are so many angels who help us with the work here at the Children's Justice Center."

Pike added, "This is just a great capstone to put on a month of reminding our community about child abuse, about spotting signs of child abuse, and about reporting child abuse. Here in Utah, we're all mandatory reporters of child abuse. If you see something, please say something. We would love to serve children, but we cannot serve them if we don't know."

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