What a month this has been.

We started out with our region focused on a little girl named Summer and the unimaginable horror of the way her life ended.

And we proceeded, day after day, and week after week, to examine the factors of child abuse, its painful signs, its enormous costs and its proven prevention efforts.

This newspaper and its media partners ran so many stories this month that readers couldn’t help but react. Human services professionals celebrated the chance to help the community see the level of child abuse in this region as they do – significant and unrelenting. As the month went on, it became clear just how much emotional strength their work requires. Other readers called or wrote to say, “Stop. We just can’t take any more.”

Most of us realized it’s the abuse itself that must end.

This month’s Our Kids: Our Business project generated remarkable community energy, with pinwheels spinning from Spokane to Coeur d’Alene and a call to action signed by thousands. Already, much good has come out of the project:

“Spokane police announced last week that two detectives were immediately assigned to work directly on physical child abuse cases. And the Spokane County Jail is starting parenting classes for inmates.

“The Safe Place and Stewards of Children programs started this month in Spokane to designate businesses, fire stations and other organizations where children could seek refuge from sexual abuse and to provide training for adults.

“Citizens became more aware of the depth and complexity of the issue of child abuse and the ways poverty, social isolation, unemployment, substance abuse and racial bias perpetuate and compound it. And the region heard sound arguments for the economic development benefits of investing in the well-being of children.

In addition, the Washington Legislature took action to fund child advocacy centers, nurse home-visitation programs and early learning efforts. It also passed laws to better protect foster children.

But it’s clear so much remains to be done. Spokane not only lacks an evidence-based Nurse-Family Partnership program, but its staff of public health nurses working with young families has been slashed in recent funding cuts. Nonprofit agencies throughout the region – including the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery – struggle to keep serving the kids they do.

Now it’s time to schedule important conversations. Leaders from human services, education, health care, business, law enforcement, neighborhoods and faith communities should come together to devise the best solutions for our region.

Sally Pritchard of Spokane’s United Way points out how this city has transformed its thinking to tackle problems in the past. The most obvious one for her flows outside her office window: our no-longer-neglected Spokane River.

But we’ve seen similar transformations as far back as the World’s Fair and as recent as the revitalization of our downtown.

One thing stands clear: We cannot let this momentum die. Too many children’s lives depend on the very next actions we take.