Celebrating 25 Years of Community Service...
This year the LaCASA/Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center is marking its 25th anniversary by thanking all of its individual and corporate benefactors, as well as its dedicated staff of professionals and hundreds of volunteers who have helped make it one of the state’s most impactful non-profit (501c3) organizations. And, in order to clarify its mission and focus for future generations, the bi-lingual agency is doing away with the LaCASA name; thereby changing its organizational name to simply Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center.
“The theme of our year-long 25th Anniversary Celebration is ‘Thanks For Making A Difference,’ which is precisely what so many caring people have done for the hundreds of thousands of area residents served by the LaCASA/ Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center over the past quarter century,” explained the sexual abuse crisis and survivor advocacy center’s Executive Director Torrie Flink.
“Without all of our amazing financial and volunteer supporters, there’s no way we would have been able to expand and grow, as needed, over the past 25 years,” Flink explained. “By eliminating the LaCASA acronym, we are strengthening our agency’s [hereafter named Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center] ability to ‘Survive and Thrive,’ just as we have helped so many people to do over the years.”
Over the past 2½ decades the LaCASA/Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center has served the ever growing counseling and healing support needs of rape and incest survivors throughout greater northeastern Illinois. At the same time, it has provided a headquarters for mobilizing an unduplicated range of staff/volunteer supported medical, legal, education and legislative advocacy programs that annually support and influence many thousands of people, while also helping to reduce the impact of sex crimes on individuals and the community at-large.
Flink says that one of Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center’s most vital resources is its volunteer board members and committee members, who have continually re-shaped the organization to keep up with changing demands and challenges. “Our board and committee members are made up of some of the most caring, thoughtful and knowledgeable people you will ever meet,” Flink said. “They have enabled us to maintain our forward momentum and professionalism in the face of adversity, and positioned us to be a highly successful part of the community for the next quarter-century and beyond.”
Flink emphasizes that there is still much to be achieved by Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center and that every day and each new generation poses new challenges, which much be effectively addressed. “We have evolved from a small, first-response rape crisis organization that helped sexual assault survivors from being re-victimized by the medical and legal process, into a diverse healing/advocacy and prevention organization that provides bi-lingual outreach into each of our community’s diverse age and cultural groups,” she explained. “Many of our clients require long-term therapeutic support and guidance that can only be provided by a well-staffed and carefully structured agency.”
The Zacharias Story
The Zacharias family came to LaCASA 19 years ago in an unusual but special way. In memory of Dick Zacharias, his family and peers wanted to give a substantial gift to a non-profit that would elevate it from a start-up to a thriving organization. This loyal and generous group, led by one of Dick’s best friends Morris Belzberg and brother Jim Zacharias, took a huge risk in choosing LaCASA, a small, grassroots organization doing a huge job, to be the charity they would support in perpetuity. Jim joined the Board of Directors, and both he and Morris spearheaded the Foundation’s continuous growth.
“They interviewed many and chose LaCASA,” recalls Dick’s daughter Nancy Zacharias. “And they did so in precisely the way my Dad would have wanted. No shiny hospital wings...No fancy publicity or public recognition...No notoriety in philanthropic journals. Instead, they got straight to the heart of the matter by establishing the framework for a revenue stream that enabled LaCASA to establish and maintain a spectrum of support programs for children and others traumatized by sexual violence.”
The Zacharias name on the center is very inspiring to his family, who are all involved in the effort. Dick's brother, Jim, stepped up and guided the support group as did many friends and relatives. “I could never have imagined the profound impact the members of the Zacharias Foundation would have on LaCASA - and on me personally,” said Nancy Zacharias. “We were in their backyards doing work that rarely came up in conversations in comfortable North Shore communities,” she recalls. “Our foundation’s support meant that, for the first time, LaCASA was afforded the resources to reach children through intervention, prevention, advocacy, and counseling. I often wonder how Dad would feel with his name emblazoned on the center,” said Nancy. “Sexual abuse was a topic that was very much in the closet…and, to a large degree, still is. That’s why it’s so important that Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center continues its legacy of providing a place where survivors can continue their personal healing process.
“Horace Mann said, ‘Be ashamed to die before you do something for humanity’, but Zacharias Center’s original donors, and today’s generous supporters, will never be ashamed,” she points out. “It’s imperative for those who are fortunate to get involved in organizations that promote help and understanding. I’m honored to have been a part of this group’s effort so many years ago - and to continue to call them my friends and mentors today. Thanks to everyone who assure that the love felt for Dick Zacharias lives on through his family and friends—and through the life-saving work at Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center.”