CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mister Rogers famously said that when there is trouble, look for the helpers. And some of those helpers participated in a webinar put on by Planned Parenthood of Illinois.
Many non-profit groups like Planned Parenthood are busier than ever during these coronavirus days, making sure employees working overtime have the resources they need to stay safe and healthy.
"Folks need community, a sense of purpose, stable housing — all of those things have been stripped from people's lives immediately," James said. "So when people call our helpline, which is seven days a week, they are calling about much more fundamental basic needs."
Planned Parenthood president and CEO Jennifer Welch said her organization swung into action by consolidating 17 health care centers into six temporary ones, expanding the days and the hours of service.
"We really thought about the demographics of the communities we were serving, and we wanted to make sure that we still had a distribution of services across the state," Welch said.
The non-profit leaders say the crisis has brought out the best in their employees. And James said even people calling her crisis line said they were concerned about how NAMI employees were doing.
