April is Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Locally, free resources are available through Western Illinois Regional Council, reminds Community Services and Public Relations Director Jamie Roth:
“Our agency alone, we have a department called Victim Services. They offer free counseling and advocacy to survivors of abuse of all ages and any type of abuse; anything from domestic violence to child abuse, to sexual assault, to even stalking. Our agency serves up to six counties, and we had over 3,000 calls to our hotline program,” says Roth.
“This is something that people are suffering with in silence many times and so we want to raise awareness that they are not alone, that it is not their fault, and we want to make sure that people know there are free resources available and to get the conversation started in the community so that we can talk about this openly and make change,” Roth adds.
The Western Illinois Regional Council serves Hancock, Henderson, Knox, Fulton, McDonough, and Warren Counties. For more information on services, call 309-837-2997.
