Dear Friends,
We hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. At Kerengende Foundation we are excited to update you on our highlights from the summer, as we gear up for an impactful fall that supports our teens, families, and community members with the education and resources to respond to and prevent sexual trauma. Thank you for your support in making this possible.
With gratitude,
Amber Clayborne, Founder
I’d love to hear from you. Please use our contact form if you’d like to get in touch.
Summer Program Highlights
Stronger Together: Programs for Teens
“Imagine Me” Summer Camp in Partnership with Call For Help and Project Compassion
On July 18-20, Kerengende partnered with Call For Help, and Rachael R. Jackson, founder of Project Compassion, to provide a three-day youth workshop focused on the prevention of sexual exploitation. This collaborative event introduced female-identified youth to the concepts of consent, coercion, and boundaries through daily dialogue and a culminating hands-on art project.
Led by a licensed art therapist from Call for Help, Marilyn Holmes, the culminating interactive art project invited girls to create a “canvas of self” with the decoration of mannequins, allowing girls to be hands-on, creative, and supportive of one another.
Ten African American girls participated in the camp, which was led by Black women, enabling culturally specific conversation. Both adults and youth had the opportunity to share and care intimately, vulnerably, and compassionately. In addition to empowering the girls with key information and decision-making skills, the summer camp also organically fostered strong interpersonal skills such as teamwork, empathy, and communication. To learn more about our summer camp’s impact, read our blog here!
It’s All of Our Business: Programs for Parents, Guardians, and Community Members
Community Outreach at Vivian Adams Elementary School
On September 1, we hosted a table at Vivian Adams Early Childhood Center Elementary School in East St. Louis during their open house. This was the first event Kerengende participated in at the elementary school level, which allowed us to empower parents of young children with information and tools to prevent childhood sexual abuse and exploitation.
Community Outreach at Belleville East and Belleville West High Schools
On August 17, Kerengende tabled at Belleville East and Belleville West high schools to raise community awareness about the Foundation. We educated folks who stopped by our tables about Kerengende’s mission to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as topics such as online safety. We handed out our Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Booklet and our Resource Guide, which provides crisis intervention resources for St. Clair County and the St. Louis Metropolitan Area, and provided an interactive activity where community members could access a quiz through a QR code. To test your knowledge of sexual abuse prevention, access the quiz here!
“How to Set Boundaries & Communicate with Ease”
Our July 14 program with Rachel Grant, highlighted in our summer update, was a success! “How to Set Boundaries & Communicate with Ease” educated participants on identifying areas in their lives where they are not keeping their word with themselves. Rachael reminded us how “going against our will and forcing ourselves to do things we don’t want to do” is re-traumatizing and creates feelings of shame and resentment. We learned strategies that restore our integrity, and give us space to fully consent to requests rather than agreeing from a place of perceived obligation. Watch the replay here!
Team Training
In June, the Convergence Resource Center hosted the Kerengende Foundation for a customized training on critical topics such as human trafficking, trauma, and how to best engage with survivors and their families. The facilitators equipped Kerengende with tools to continue developing a strong infrastructure for assisting survivors in a way that is client-centered and trauma-informed. The training was so successful that the Convergence Resource Center will now offer customized programs on a national basis.
“The human trafficking experience left me speechless. It was heavy, vulnerable, amazing, frustrating, and hopeful all at the same time. I went in thinking I knew what trafficking was, but left with more knowledge than I could have anticipated. I cannot put into words how grateful I am for the opportunity. I feel this renewed sense to help educate not only myself, but the people in my life as well… knowing places like Convergence Resource Center exists gives me hope that I too can make a difference.“
– Victoria Kyles
Family Advocate, Kerengende Foundation
We Moved!
We are thrilled to announce our move to our new office space in Belleville at Project Compassion’s Therapy Center located at 6607 W. Main Street in Belleville. The new location offers more space for us to support families in a confidential setting and provide workshops and parent coaching in an intimate space. The facility connects us with the Belleville community while still enabling us to provide services in East St. Louis.
We would like to thank Community Lifeline and First Lady Wyvetta Granger for providing the Kerengende Foundation’s first home this past year. We look forward to a continued partnership to educate the community on sexual abuse and trafficking prevention.
Upcoming Programs
- On September 27, we will hold a parent community training at Vivian Adams Elementary School, open to all parents at the school.
- On October 18 and 20, we will host a Healthy Relationships workshop for teens at our new office space. Look out for an email with registration information (subscribe at the bottom of this page).
- On October 25, we will hold a training in East St. Louis on exploitation awareness in partnership with Crisis Aid. Location details forthcoming.
- In October, we will begin parent workshops at our new office location. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall.
Call to Action
We are looking for speakers on a panel that we are organizing this fall about sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of boys. Potential speakers include stakeholders, youth advocates, teachers, law enforcement, parents, victim witness advocates, and any other community members with experience on this topic. If you are interested or know of a potential speaker, please contact us at , using the information in the footer, or via our contact form.