Dear Friends,

Welcome to my "Walk for Hope" fundraising page.  I have been employed by Mutual Ground Inc. for almost 15 years.  In that time I have had both the pleasure of witnessing healing and growth, and the pain of seeing trajedy and sadness. 

My staff provides sexual abuse and domestic violence prevention programs to children in schools.   Our goal is 3 fold.  We want to educate students about abuse, inform them what to do if they are a victim of a crime, and finally empower them to tell someone about the abuse. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that sexual abuse is one of the most underreported crimes in the United States. 

Most survivors of sexual assault never tell anyone.  The reasons for not telling are numerous. Fear, shame, guilt, bribery, threats and intimidation are tools that offenders use to get their victims to remain silent.  This is counterproductive in so many ways. 1.  The victim never recieves help.  No one ever tells the victim that it (the abuse) was not their fault. Victims carry a burden of guilt, shame and saddness.  2.  Offenders walk around free to continue their patterns of abuse.  Think about it, if victims don't report the offenders, they don't get caught.  The average number of victims an offender has in their lifetime is 9.  The median age for a child to be sexually assaulted is 9.  67 % of all sexual assaults happen to children under the age of 18.

The MGI Prevention Educators are heros who work with children everyday to make a difference.  They give children tools, safety rules, to recognize situations that are potentially dangerous.  They give children permission to "tell" if anyone touches them in a way that makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable.  Children are told it is not their fault if this happens to them, and they NEED to tell a trusted grown-up.

Our Prevention Programs are just one of many services offered by Mutual Ground Inc..  The current budget crisis facing the State of Illinois is seriously impacting the amount and volume of services we can offer.  Already this fall I have turned down 3 schools for programs due to our recent budget cuts.  That means hundreds of students will not receive these very valuable safety lessons this year, or counseling for offenses already committed against them. 

Please consider supporting the "Walk for Hope".  All donations are tax free and can be made directly on this safe and secure website.

You can learn more about Mutual Ground by visiting our website, www.mutualgroundinc.org.

Thank you in advance for supporting the Mutual Ground Inc.  Walk for Hope!

Sincerely,

Rhonda Annala