Dear Friends,

First, thank you for all of your support on Giving Tuesday, which provides the necessary resources for our workshops, community outreach programs, therapy services, and more. Together, we are helping our teens, families, and community members respond to and prevent sexual abuse. If you missed Giving Tuesday, there is still time to support us! Below, please see updates from the past quarter, followed by ways to get involved by the end of this year and beyond.

With gratitude,

Amber

WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS

Stronger Together Teen Workshops

In October, we offered two healthy relationships workshops at our W. Main Street location. Lauren Peffley, with Crisis Aid St. Louis facilitated an extremely engaging two-part workshop where our girls:

• Talked about green flags of healthy relationships, Yellow flags of unhealthy relationships, and RED flags of abusive relationships
• Discussed various topics such as: Communication, boundaries, healing from trauma, self-worth, and so much more

If it sounds like we have two locations, it’s because WE DO! We are thrilled to share that we now have additional office space located in downtown Belleville. This generous donation allows us to expand our programming. Thank you to Barry Haden for generously donating the space!

It’s All of Our Business Community Workshops

We were proud to partner with Macedonia Baptist Church in East St. Louis for the first time in October. The Church generously hosted our first Online Exploitation Prevention workshop in collaboration with Crisis Aid for over 20 participants, one of our largest groups to date. Attendees learned about the dynamics of predatory online behaviors and received information that supported parents and guardians to mitigate the risk of their children falling prey to victimization and/or further victimization (leading to future trafficking or exploitation). The workshop culminated with a dinner for the attendees.

Sexual Abuse Prevention Workshop

This month, we offered two sexual abuse prevention workshops to the community, one at the non-for-profit CDBG Family Living Center, which fosters the development of affordable and decent housing opportunities and related community services in East St. Louis. The second took place at Vivian Adams early learning center, where parents learned about grooming behaviors and child sexual abuse prevention practices. We engaged in rich discussions about the importance of teaching children body safety and consent language as a preventative measure. We also connected families with additional resources for therapeutic support.

NEW TRAINING PROGRAM

We teamed up with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s department, a new partnership, to offer our first Compassionate Interactions training. With approximately 120 officers in attendance, the two trainings featured an inside perspective of a non-offending caregiver, and invited the officers to consider the importance of building rapport and connecting families to local resources as they navigate the recovery process. We hope to expand this training in 2023.

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NEW SUPPORT GROUP

On December 5th, we launched a bi-monthly support group, led by a therapist, for non-offending caregivers whose children were victims of sexual abuse or trafficking. Led by a therapist, we are so proud of this group of amazing parents who have come together to learn from and support each other. We currently have five caregivers participating and have three spots left.

 SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

In November I spoke at the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Mississippi’s One Loud Voice Conference about my family’s experience with child sexual abuse and the importance of advocacy and special considerations for families in crisis. It was a phenomenal experience to present and to learn from leaders in the field. Thank you to Children’s Advocacy Centers of Mississippi for inviting me to present.

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