CA with tag line 

 525 N. State Street · Suite 4 · Alma, MI 48801 
(989) 463-1422

"For a small child there is no division between playing and learning; between the things he or she does 'just for fun' and things that are 'educational.' The child learns while living and any part of living that is enjoyable is also play." 

Penelope Leach
In This Issue
About Us 

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

Staci Bigelow
Event/Volunteer Coordinator

Ty Warczinsky 
GCSAC Program Director
 
Emily Rayburn
GCSAC Coordinator

Sara Krebs 
GCSAC Prevention
 Coordinator
 
 
Alexa Morton
 GCSAC Prevention Educator
 
Morgan Rooy
CAN Program Director
 
 Richelle Davis 
CAN Prevention Educator
 
Michelle Zombeck 
 CASA Program Director    
 
Rachel Letsche
CASA Recruitment Coordinator
 
Heather Therrien  
CAC Program Director

Jennifer Stambaugh
CAC Victim Advocate
 
Nicole Showers
CAC Case Manager

Nikky Holton
CAC Intake Coordinator
 
Board of Directors  

President
Carolyn Studley
Community 
Representative
   
Vice President 
Jennifer Leppien
Community Representative

Secretary
Garth Anderson
Commercial Bank
   
Treasurer
Sara Bonacci
Community 
Representative

Brett Baublitz
Transportation Director/City of Alma

Colleen Davis
Prosecuting Attorney's Office 
   
Jim Dubey
Garr Tool 

Rob DuHadway
DuHadway Dance Dimentions

Andrew Fias
Michigan State Police

Tammy Halfmann
Mercantile Bank

David Justin
 Alma School Board
 
John Morey
CPA

Mike Morris
Gratiot County Sheriff
     
Alison Morrison
Dept. of Health and Human Services 
 
Jennifer Siefker
Tri-Lakes Petroleum

Michelle Stillwagon
Gratiot Integrated Health Network

Katie Tobias
Katie Tobias State Farm

Annette Weller-Collison
Kahn Consulting, INC.
 
Mark Williams
Alma Public Safety Administrator 
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.  
8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Monday - Friday
 
Breckenridge Police Dept.
 104 E. Saginaw St.
8:00 a.m.- 5:00  p.m.
Monday - Friday
 
St. Louis Police Dept.
300 N. Mill St.
Mon. 7 - 3 
Tues. - Fri. 8 - 4 
 
These sites accept
prescription pills and patches.

Quick Links

 
Join Our Mailing List

Our Court Appointed Special Advocates(CASA) program is looking for volunteers! Please visit our website, www.linkforfamilies.org, to learn more and fill out an application today.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter,
Staci Bigelow
Volunteer/Event Coordinator 
Check out our website www.linkforfamilies.org .

Virtual Suicide Prevention Training
Question. Persuade. Refer
QPR: 3 Simple Questions Anyone Can Learn To Help Save A Life
Thursday, September 3, 2020
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Please visit our Facebook page closer to the event or email Ty at  [email protected] for the presentation link.


Gratiot County Substance Abuse Coalition Virtual Meeting
Monday, August 10, 2020
1:00 p.m.

Please email Emily at  [email protected] for the presentation link.

Caregiver Support Group Virtual Meeting
Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Please email Morgan at [email protected] for more information or for the presentation link.
Gratiot County Substance Abuse and Suicide Prevention Coalition
Submitted by: Emily Rayburn
GCSAC Coordinator


What a wild year 2020 has been! I hope that this finds you well-mentally and physically. 

With all of the changes that we all have experienced since March, I wanted to let you know that your Gratiot County Substance Abuse and Suicide Prevention Coalition is still meeting regularly and working on our prevention efforts in Gratiot County.

The staff and members have been working tirelessly to make sure that our efforts continue to provide education and support to the residents of Gratiot County. We have been attending training's, hosting our coalition meetings via Zoom, planning for this upcoming school year, and planning our usual events-everything just may look a bit different!

As the Coalition Coordinator, I wanted to take this time to invite anyone who has been contemplating or curious about our Coalition, to join us for our upcoming meeting August 10, 2020 at 1:00PM. It is our mission to collect and share data in order to develop and implement prevention strategies. It is also our mission to promote and inspire community collaboration to reduce the misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other substances among youth and adults, along with providing education regarding suicide prevention and awareness. 

We would love to have you join us for our August meeting and all meetings after! We meet the second Monday of every month at 1:00pm- location is typically at MidMichigan Medical Center-Gratiot; however, we have been meeting virtually via Zoom due to Covid-19. 

To be added to our contact list to learn about meeting locations/online meeting invitations, please email Emily Rayburn at [email protected]

We look forward to welcoming you to our group!


Back to School 
with Protect Yourself
Submitted by: Richelle Davis
CAN Prevention Educator


The month of August brings much excitement and anticipation for a brand-new school year! Although, this year feels very different due to COVID-19. This pandemic h as brought much concern as to how to safely return to school and our normal activities. If our schools are able to return to in person classes, there is still uncertainty as to what safety precautions will be in place, as well as what type of outside visitors will be allowed into the schools.

We are very much hoping to be able to return to the classrooms and deliver the Protect Yourself program in person to all of our 1st and 3rd graders in Gratiot County. If safety guidelines prohibit that from happening, we have a plan in place to still be able to get these important lessons to our students. We will be offering video lessons to each classroom that will cover each of our 5 lessons in the program. Teachers will be able to share the videos with their students and pause for questions and discussions as needed. The end of last school year was completed much in this same manner, as videos were sent out to the children through each classroom's learning platform.

COVID-19 has added new challenges to protecting children from sexual abuse and to intervening and responding to abuse. It is of utmost importance to continue to have conversations with your child about appropriate/inappropriate touches, secrets, and the trusted adults in their life. The following websites are excellent resources to help you get the conversations started.


Greetings,
The big news around here is the NEW BUILDING!  If you haven't driven down State St. in Alma in a few weeks then please drive by and look at the progress of our new building.  It's grand!  We are so excited to move next door this Fall.  If you or someone you know works with a non-profit, who would like to be a part of our non-profit campus, please have them call us to come tour our space at the Wilcox Non-Profit Center.  We have loved working in this space with the other non-profits, and we are hoping to carry on with utilizing resources and referrals of our fellow non-profits and neighbors.  Come check it out and see if this space is right for you.  Call us at 989-463-1422.

Sincerely,
Audra Stahl
President & CEO