CHILDHELPERS
Summer 2017
GREATEST NEEDS LIST
FOUNDERS’
MESSAGE
Celebrating 35 years of answering the call
In 1979, following our encouragement
and hard work — along with support from
celebrities including legendary actress
Sophia Loren — President Jimmy Carter
designated the first National Child Abuse
Prevention Month.
However, the years in between are a
pivotal time we will always remember.
That’s when First Lady Nancy Reagan asked
us to help turn the nation’s attention to the
taboo subject of child abuse.
In 1982, we launched the Childhelp National
Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD.
The response was immediate; the parents,
caregivers and children of America had
waited decades for such a resource.
The first day our hotline was operational,
Childhelp staff and counselors fielded a
few dozen calls. Within a few months, our
phones began to ring hundreds of times per
day. Soon, the daily call logs began to tally
into the thousands.
Over the past year, the Childhelp
National Child Abuse Hotline has fielded
more than 100,000 calls and text messages
from children at risk for or experiencing
abuse, distressed parents seeking crisis
intervention, and concerned relatives,
friends, neighbors, educators, and law
enforcement professionals who suspect
child abuse may be occurring.
In this issue of Childhelpers, we celebrate
35 years of answering the call with
Childhelp’s National Child Abuse Hotline.
We also reflect on the critical importance
of keeping this resource active and ready
to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
365 days a year.
Like so many of Childhelp’s services, our
hotline is more than just a helpful resource.
It is a lifeline for abused, bullied and
neglected children who might otherwise
have nowhere else to turn.
Thank you for sustaining 1-800-4-A-CHILD as
a lifesaving service for children nationwide.
Your generous support for this program and
our comprehensive approach to prevention,
intervention, treatment, and community
outreach keeps Childhelp at the forefront
of ending the epidemic of child abuse
in America and allowed us to save more
than 10 million children since 1959.
For the love of a child,
Sara O’Meara
Chairman & CEO
Co-Founder
Yvonne Fedderson
President
Co-Founder
• New server for CA Village
• Wireless internet access
for Group Homes
• VA Group Home furniture
• New siding for buildings
at VA Village
• Generator for VA Village
• CA Cottage Refurbishment
• Maintenance Equipment
for CA properties (backhoe,
bucket mower, etc.)
• Playground refurbishment
for CA Village
• Smart boards for CA
classrooms
• CA Village commercial
kitchen appliances
• Rehab TN Center playground
equipment
• New carpet for TN advocacy
center
For questions or more
information on these and
other pressing needs, please
contact Michael Medoro at
[email protected].