This Thursday, April 20th, Western Illinois Regional Council-Community Action Agency, along with the Blue Ribbon Task Force will hold a Hands Around the Courthouse, or HATCH, event at the Warren County Courthouse from 1:30 to 3 pm. System Care Coordinator with Bridgeway, Jessi Boock, offers more insight behind the meaning of the powerful event:
“April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness month. Hands Around the Courthouse is a public display of community support around child abuse prevention. You will see visual representation of the number of child abuse cases in Warren County, then over in Knox County you will see the same representation of the number of child abuse cases that we have had for the last year. We will have a speaker, Mariah Huston, from Victim Services is going to be our keynote. She will give a quick presentation. We will talk about the history of HATCH, then we will come together in a moment of silence, honoring those survivors and victims of child abuse.”
The Hands Around the Courthouse event in Knox County will be held next Thursday, April 27th at 2 pm.