Russ
T. Nailz
is the Speakers Bureau Chairman for Childhelp USA and lead voice
actor on the Laughing Day Cassette. He asks that you please read
this information about Childhelp USA. You can visit their website
by clicking on their name.
Childhelp USA® is one of the largest and oldest national non-profits
dedicated to the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect.
The organization's comprehensive programs include the Childhelp
USA® National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-CHILD®; residential
treatment facilities and group homes for severely abused children;
foster family recruitment, training and certification; advocacy
centers which reduce the child's trauma during the physical examination
and investigation of abuse; and child abuse prevention programs.
Since its founding
in 1959 by Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, the organization has
directly provided help and hope to millions of children and adults
whose lives have been traumatized by child abuse. To continue its
efforts, Childhelp USA relies upon individuals, corporations and
foundations to provide donations of time, in-kind services and dollars.
To find out how you can make a difference in a child's life, please
contact the Childhelp USA national headquarters at (480) 922-8212
or visit its Web site at www.childhelpusa.org.
Once
upon a time...
two young actresses, Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, while touring
Japan and entertaining US troops, found 11 children wandering the
streets. The children were Amerasian and had been cast out from
the orphanages to make room for pure-blood Japanese children. Sara
and Yvonne took them back to their hotel room and the next morning
began a week long search for an orphanage that would accept the
children. They finally found "Mama Kin," who was already
caring for 10 orphans in a one-room hut. During their next shows
for the troops, Sara and Yvonne asked for their help on behalf of
the children. They returned to Mama Kin with soldiers, tools and
lumber to renovate the tiny house before leaving for the U.S.
In 1959, Sara
and Yvonne founded International Orphans, Inc., (IOI) that built
and maintained four orphanages in Japan, as well as five orphanages,
a hospital and a school in Vietnam. IOI helped organize the "Baby
Lift" of Vietnamese orphans, mostly Amerasian, to the US for
adoption.
Sara and Yvonne
then redirected their efforts toward abused and neglected children
in the USA, and changed the organization's name to Childhelp USA.
Today...
Childhelp USA is one of the largest and oldest national, nonprofit
organizations dedicated to the treatment, prevention, and research
of child abuse and neglect. Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson continue
as Chairman/CEO and President. In 1978 Children's Village USA (later
renamed the Village of Childhelp West), the nation's first residential
facility solely for the healing treatment of severely abused children,
opened its doors in Beaumont, California. It's replica, the Alice
C. Tyler Village of Childhelp East in Culpeper County, Tennessee,
is planned on 110 donated acres. In addition, Childhelp operates
the Childhelp National Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-CHILD; child advocacy
centers to reduce the intake processing trauma for sexually abused
victims in Knoxsville, Tennessee, and Manhattan, New York; the Childhelp
Children’s Center of Arizona, located in Phoenix, a coalition
of professional disciplines focused upon issues related to abuse;
therapeutic foster care and group homes in California and Virginia;
and community outreach and education programs. 87 cents of every
dollar Childhelp spends goes directly to programs benefiting children.
Facts about child abuse
Child
molestation remains a crime most often perpetrated by relatives
and acquaintances rather than strangers. (United States Department
of Justice)
The actual incidence of abuse and neglect is estimated to be 3 times
greater than the number reported to authorities. (United States
Department of Justice)
An Estimated half of all homes with adult violence also invlove
child abuse or neglect. (United States Advisory Board on Child Abuse
and Neglect)
National Headquarters
15757 N. 78th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
(602)922-8212
Los Angeles Center
1345 El Centro, Hollywood, California 90028
(213)465-4016
East Coast Office
120 N. Lee Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046
(703)241-9100
Tennessee Office
2505 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919
(423)637-1753
Childhelp
National Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-4-A-CHILD
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Combating Child Abuse Across America
Founded in 1959
by Sara O'Meara & Yvonne Fedderson
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