(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — 2020 has been an especially challenging year for a Lake County non-profit working to ensure abused and neglected children have a safe place to call home.
“We represent the best interests of children that have been abused and neglected. Their cases have been brought to court,” Terri Zenner Greenberg, executive director of CASA Lake County, said.
But for most of 2020, there have been no court cases, forcing the organization and its volunteers to adapt.
“All of our volunteers increased the amount of contact they had with the children by FaceTime, by Zoom, by whatever electronic mechanism they could use to make sure that somebody was connecting with the families and connecting with the children,” Zenner Greenberg said.
Court cases have resumed virtually, but that’s a very difficult way for children to find homes, she said.
There are also more children in need — and a shortage of volunteers.
“We have over 100 children on a wait list for a CASA volunteer,” Zenner Greenberg said. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking.”
Related
