Preventing & treating child abuse – Michael Medoro
Episode description
The story of Childhelp is so astounding, it should be made into a movie.
It’s the true tale of two young actresses - Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson – who played the roles of the girlfriends on the television show “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”
It began on a USO Tour in 1959 when the two young women were in Japan, and came across 11 street children in a typhoon. They dedicated themselves to finding the children find a safe place to live, not knowing that protecting kids was to become their life calling.
From that, they formed what is now the nation’s largest and oldest nonprofit organization meeting the physical, emotional, educational and spiritual needs of abused, neglected and at-risk children. Childhelp has directly impacted the lives of more than 12 million children in the U.S.
Michael Medoro is now the impassioned chief of staff of this organization, working with issues from prevention to foster care programs, family advocacy centers, residential villages, legislation, and a national child abuse hotline.
And that movie about Childhelp and its beginnings? It has been indeed been made – “For the Love of a Child,” available on many streaming services.
To learn more about Childhelp, click here: https://www.childhelp.org/
Original air date: November 16, 2023.
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