In 1979, The Exchange Club-Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse became a dream of the Jackson Exchange Club after Child Abuse Prevention was selected as the National Exchange Club’s main project. Carl Perkins became involved in the early beginning because he saw a picture in the local newspaper of a child who died in West Tennessee as a result of child abuse, and wanted to help create the Center in the hopes that no other child would have to suffer.
The Exchange Club wrote a grant for $26,000 and Carl brought in the Statler Brothers to hold a concert that generated $33,000. Those were the dollars that funded the first year of the Center. The Center opened its doors in October 1981 and was the first licensed child abuse prevention agency in the State of Tennessee and was the fourth Exchange Center in the Nation. The Center was first housed in an old university campus dorm room.
Throughout the years many more individuals joined the Center and helped in the growth and development of Centers across West Tennessee. Through business plans and dedicated boards, staff and volunteers, the Center now provides services in twenty-three locations, serving twenty rural counties in West Tennessee. The dream that Carl and the Exchange Club had in 1979, became a reality and thousands of children and families have been helped. Cycles of Abuse have been replaced by Circles of Hope.