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Community saves child advocacy center from the brink of closure

Community members celebrated a new-and-improved April House Friday, after saving the home from the brink of closure.

Community members celebrated a new-and-improved April House Friday, after saving the home from the brink of closure.

April House is Whiteside County's child advocacy center -- a place dedicated to helping children who are victims of abuse or neglect. At the house, a forensic psychologist often conducts interviews that are recorded and used in court. This minimizes trauma to the child, who avoids being re-interviewed by lawyers, law enforcement, and others.

At Friday's open house, executive director and forensic interviewer Johanna Hager showed off the new space, which will allow her to talk to kids in a larger, more comfortable and more private environment.

"When a child is not all stressed out and they feel at ease, they are more likely to give accurate and complete information about the things they tell me about," said Hager.

And talking about the people who made the new house possible brings tears to Hager's eyes.

"I didn't think that any of this could really happen as big and great as it has," said Hager. "None of this would be possible without them. The community has been amazing in their donations."

April House recently lost funding because it wasn’t accredited. To apply for that accreditation and additional grant money, though, the home needed to first become ADA compliant.

When the community learned of April House’s plight, various groups and individuals donated more than $50,000 to remodel the home and keep it open. The Sterling-Rock Falls Sunrise Rotary Club donated its labor as well.

"We told each other every week that the project was about another three weeks. Well, that began, I believe our first day here was the 15th of April, and we just finished last week," laughed member Gary Schopp.

It took nearly five months for the group to replace ceilings, expand the doorways, build new walls and add a wheelchair ramp.

"If what we did can help prevent [child abuse] from happening, then our work was very well worthwhile," said Schopp.

April House sees around 100 kids each year, and Whiteside County state's attorney Trish Joyce says it is vital to prosecuting cases involving child abuse.

She, too, is thankful for the community's support.

"All of these people have donated either products, or services, or time or money to us, and without that, this facility would have been closed."

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