Leading through the Covid crisis presented challenges around every corner. “I kept saying I’ve never been faced with this before,” says Guilford County Family Justice Center Director Catherine Johnson ‘09 MS/EdS.
While much of the world closed down, the Family Justice Center was negotiating how to keep helpers safe so they could keep survivors safe. “Violence and abuse breeds in isolation,” Catherine notes, so there was no option but to be there – in person. She and her team leaned into the complexities of providing, in the midst of a pandemic, their “one-stop-shop” for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and elder abuse. During the 2020 shutdown, her team assisted 10,000 survivors.