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About Us
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Child Advocacy is a non-profit agency with a mission to
improve the welfare of children and their families through education, training, and support for the prevention of substance abuse and child abuse and neglect.
Our Staff
Audra Stahl
President & CEO
Pam Mahin
Office Manager
Ty Warczinsky
GCSAC Program Director
Sara Krebs
Coalition Coordinator
Richelle Davis
Prevention Educator
Michelle Zombeck
CASA Program Director
CAC Program Director
Nicole Showers
CAC Case Manager
Mallory Harrier
CAC Intake Coordinator
Staci Bigelow
Event/Volunteer Coordinator
Morgan Rooy
Board of Directors
President
Carolyn Studley
Community Represenative
Vice President
Matt Schooley
City of Alma Transportation
Secretary
Jennifer Stambaugh
DeafBlind Central
Treasurer
Sara Bonacci
Sara Bonacci Photography
Steve Benn
Detective/Sgt.
MI State Police
Wendy Currie
Mid MI District Health Dept
Colleen Davis
Prosecuting Attorney's Office
Jim Dubey
Garr Tool
Rob DuHadway
DuHadway Dance Dimensions
Tammy Halfmann
Mercantile Bank
David Justin
Alma School Board
Jennifer Leppien
CASA
John Morey
CPA
Mike Morris
Detective/Sgt. Gratiot Co. Sheriff's Dept.
Alison Morrison
Dept. of Health and Human Services
Jamie Richardson
Doehring Schultz Insurance Agency
Jennifer Siefker
Steve Vernon
Gratiot Integrated Health Network
Wes Wickes
Central MI Youth for Christ
Mark Williams
Detective/Sgt.
Alma Police Depart.
Joe Yourchock
Community Representative
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| Car Seat Safety |
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Did you know that at Child Advocacy we can install and provide a safety inspection for your child safety seat? Child Advocacy has a nationally certified safety seat technician available!
To make an appointment call
989-463-1422
or 800-552-4489
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Permanent Prescription Drug Drop Off
Site
Gratiot Co. Sheriff
226 E. Center
Ithaca
open 24 hrs./day
7 days/week
Alma Police Dept.
525 E. Superior St.
Hours
8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Monday - Friday
Breckenridge Police Dept.
104 E. Saginaw St.
Hours
8:00 a.m.- 5:00
p.m.
Monday - Friday
St. Louis Police Dept.
108 W. Saginaw St.
Hours
Mon. 7 - 3
Tues. - Fri. 8 - 4
These sites accept
prescription pills and patches.
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Program Needs
Gas Cards
to help cover the cost for medical travel to Grand Rapids or help with transportation of foster children.
Gift Cards to Walmart and Meijer to purchase the specific needs of a child.
Drawing Paper
Puzzles
New Children's Books
Play-dough
Games for younger children to play
Capri Sun Juice Boxes
Bottled Water
Baby Pantry
Diapers size 5
Baby Food
(fruits and vegetables)
Pacifiers
Preemie Clothing
Formula
Baby Wipes
Community donations help the quality of our programs and are greatly appreciated. Donations can be made directly at Child Advocacy or by contacting our office. (989) 463-1422
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Your Feedback!
My child felt very at ease and I felt this was a good way for him to express himself and know that help is here for him if needed. Thank you so much.
Mother of a child who visited our CAC.
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Welcome back to another school year!
If you have little ones at home we provide car sear check-up tips below and information on our upcoming baby pantry open house.
Our staff here at Child Advocacy is excited for another year of community events and partnerships!
Child Advocacy Staff
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Upcoming Events
Caring for the Addicted Patient
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Alma Elks Lodge #1400 - Alma
Online registration available for this program at:
www.midmichigan.org/responsible
Mom 2 Mom Sale
Saturday, October 14, 2017
10:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Donald L. Pavlik Middle School - Alma
Trivia Night
Saturday, November 18
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Alma Elks Lodge #1400 - Alma
Contact Michelle or Staci at (989) 463-1422 for more information on this event.
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We had some pint size donors deliver food and baby wipes for the Baby Pantry in the month of August! These girls (and Grandma) purchased 48 packages of baby food and 2 boxes of wipes. That's a total of 192 baby food containers!!!! They were excited to help feed hungry babies in our community.
Child Advocacy welcomes donations to restock our growing Baby Pantry. Please see our Program Needs section for the list of September needs! All donations can be used as a tax write off and will be used to support children in Gratiot County.
If you have questions on ways you can help or what can be donated please contact our agency at (989)463-1422.
Thank you Riley, Anniston, and Grandma Kris
for your donation!
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Car Seat Checkup: Top 5 Things to Do at Home
Right Seat:
Check the label on your car seat to make sure it's appropriate for your child's age, weight, and height. Like milk, your car seat has an expiration date. Double-check the label on your car seat to make sure it's still safe.
Right Place:
The safest place for children is in the backseat. It's recommended that children reach age 13 before sitting in the front seat.
Right Direction:
Keep your child in a rear-facing car seat until at least age 2. When he or she outgrows the seat, move your child to a forward-facing car seat and make sure to attach the top tether after you tighten and lock the seat belt or lower attachments(LATCH).
Inch Test:
Once your car seat is installed, give it a good shake at the base. Can you move it more than an inch side-to-side or front-to-back? A properly installed seat will not move more than an inch.
Pinch Test: Make sure the harness is tightly buckled and coming from the correct slots (check your car seat manual). Now, with the chest clip places at armpit level, pinch the strap at your child's shoulder. If you are unable to pinch any excess webbing, you're good to go.
If you still have questions about your car seat, we can help! Child Advocacy has two Child Passenger Safety Technicians available to install and assess car seats. Appointments can be made by calling Pam or Morgan at (989)463-1422.
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13 Reasons Why
Submitted by: Ty Warczinsky
GCSAC Program Director
With September being National Suicide Prevention Month I think it is fitting that we discuss the show, 13 Reasons Why. I will not speak on the show itself (because I have not seen the show), but I will speak to the effects it is having. The show 13 Reasons Why, which will soon be premiering season two, is about a young teen who completed suicide and left tapes behind explaining why she killed herself.
There are various opinions about whether or not this show is helpful or harmful but there are a couple of things we know for sure: One, our youth are tuning into the show. Two, the topic of suicide is being discussed more than it has been in recent years. Given these two facts, I think it is very clear that anyone with children need to have conversations with their youth. These conversations are going to happen regardless, and it is our responsibility to make sure we are heavily involved in these conversations.
Please see link for article for more information.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/07/31/13-reasons--might-have-triggered-suicide-searches-online/104160074/
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Scheduled Classes
Foster/Adoptive/Relative Care Support Group
Tuesday, September 12
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
East Superior Christian Church - Alma
Gratiot County Substance Abuse Coalition Meeting
Monday, September 11
1:00 p.m.
Please call Sara at 989-463-1422 with any questions.
The Baby Pantry
Every Wednesday
11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Wilcox Non-Profit Building - Alma
For more information about the Baby Pantry please contact Morgan Rooy at (989)463-1422.
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Staff Spotlight -
Hi, I'm Audra Stahl, President/CEO of Child Advocacy, and I'm celebrating 10 years at Child Advocacy this week!
Like most of our staff, I am a Gratiot County Resident, a wife, and a mother. I'm currently the Chair of the Gratiot County Collaborative Council, and I sit on the Board of Directors for the Gratiot County Community Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce. I'm a member of the Alma Woman's Club, 100 Women Who Care Gratiot, and Alma-St. Louis Rotary.
I'm a Child Advocacy super fan!! I love love love this agency and the people I work with. I also love being a part of and giving back to the community that raised me!
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I say this every month, but we have some really exciting things happening here at Child Advocacy! We are hiring.....again! We are excited to be expanding our team.
We hope you will save the date for our next Trivia Night event, join us at the Baby Pantry grand re-opening, and check out some of our classes and trainings.
All of our classes, trainings, and community events are FREE to the public. Occasionally we host a fundraiser where we ask the community to help support our programs.
This year we will be fundraising for the agency as a whole versus fundraising for an individual program. We think this will be the most effective way to make sure that each program has the funding it needs to keep providing services to the community.
You might be wondering what I mean by this? Last year we had a 5K event for our Child Abuse Prevention Program, Trivia Night for our CASA Program, Princess and Pirate's Party for our Children's Advocacy Center, etc., etc. This year we are going to take the individual program name off the fundraiser and help which ever program is in the need at the time. We believe this will keep all of our programs running at the highest level possible. Why am sharing this with you? We want to make sure that everyone knows that fundraising dollars go directly into programs that benefit children and families in our community.
We need your help to continue to provide quality programming in Gratiot County.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Audra Stahl
President & CEO
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