InvestigateTV+: Erin’s Law pushes states to mandate child sexual abuse prevention education in schools

(InvestigateTV) — InvestigateTV+ takes an in-depth look at the efforts of a child sex abuse survivor to protect future generations, the legislation mandating public schools teach personal body safety, and the obstacles it faces.

Then, a high school senior was inspired to shatter misconceptions and have open conversations about depression in teens.

And we introduce you to a group of volunteers committing random acts of flowers.

Erin’s Law pushes states to mandate child sexual abuse prevention education in public schools

Erin Merryn was abused for six-and-a-half years as a child. She said the only education she ever received about it was to keep it a secret and stay silent.

She is now on a mission to push states across the country to pass Erin’s Law, which requires annual personal body safety education in public schools.

By 2025, 38 states had the law or a similar one. After one New York school taught Erin’s Law, nine children came forward in a single day, but at least four states had never introduced legislation on the topic.

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‘Sometimes being strong is reaching out’: Teen’s message on depression goes national

A Missouri high school senior’s experience with depression and a near-fatal overdose became the foundation for a project that has reached thousands.

Under the surface, Alyssa Maloney was struggling with anxiety and depression. She overdosed on a bottle of pain medication and got to the hospital in time.

Later, she shared her story with her best friend.

Together, they entered a state competition with a focus on public health and social connection. Maloney would share her story publicly for the first time.

“People need to hear about this, but this is so personal to me, what are they going to think about me? I had to set that aside and know that telling my story is going to help me open up, make those connections, and then it could also reach at least one person, which is all I wanted,” Maloney said.

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Wild Things Freedom Center: How a South Carolina couple rescues and rehabilitates wild animals

Jeanette and Dale Ouellette run the Wild Things Freedom Center in South Carolina, a wildlife rehabilitation center and sanctuary where they care for 130 animals — including deer, donkeys, raccoons, foxes and the occasional otter — on three acres of their property.

The couple has spent years rescuing and nursing wild animals back to health while also educating the public on how to coexist with wildlife.

Jeanette says her heart belongs to the raccoons, “They have personalities. They’re smart, they’re conniving, they can work together in groups.”

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Meet the volunteers who bring flowers from weddings and funerals to hospice patients

Inside Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, a group of 40 volunteers called the Flower Buds gathers each week to cut, clean and arrange donated flowers — collected from weddings, funerals, supermarkets, florists and community events — before delivering them to nursing homes, the VA hospital, assisted living facilities and shelters.

Volunteer Clem Russell, a veteran, takes particular pride in delivering them to the VA’s hospice unit.

“We deliver to the hospice unit there at the VA and they love seeing them come in. The families are so happy to see the flowers,” Russell said.

Since 2006, the group has delivered more than 90,000 vases of flowers — all of which would otherwise have been thrown away.

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