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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
Staci Bigelow
Event/Volunteer Coordinator
Ty Warczinsky
GCSAC Program Director
Sara Krebs
GCSAC Prevention
Coordinator
Kelsey Wooten
GCSAC Prevention Educator
Morgan Rooy
CAN Program Director
Richelle Davis
CAN Prevention Educator
Michelle Zombeck
CASA Program Director
Danielle Schmidtman
CASA Recruitment Coordinator
CAC Program Director
Nicole Showers
CAC Case Manager
Mallory Harrier
CAC Intake Coordinator
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
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
Baby Safety items
Pacifiers
Burp Cloths
Purple Gentle Can Formula
Yellow Infant Can Formula
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!
I was having some trouble getting my boys' seats in the new car, so I took a trip down to Child Advocacy in Alma for some help. Pam was AMAZING and taught me so much! All you have to do is call and see if someone is available and they'll check out your car seat for free. I highly recommend taking advantage of this service if you're in the area!
Mom who visited Child Advocacy for car seat help.
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Please take a moment to read our program articles below. Each month members of Child Advocacy's staff work hard to provide program related articles on various topics.
We also encourage you to mark your calendars for our upcoming Trivia Night the Sequel and Alumni Basketball Game. Details for both events can be found below.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter,
Staci Bigelow
Volunteer/Event Coordinator
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Upcoming Events
Trivia Night The Sequel
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Alma Elks Lodge # 1400 - Alma
Doors open at 6:30, Trivia Play begins at 7:30
No Silent Auction, No Big Production, No Kidding
Just Trivia!
Team tables now available.
Click here to print a registration form, for more information please contact Staci at (989)463-1422.
Charity Basketball Game
Alma High School Alumni vs. Ithaca High School Alumni
Friday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m
Alma High School Gymnasium
Proceeds to benefit Child Abuse and Neglect programs
of Gratiot County.
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Clare, Gratiot, and Isabella Human Trafficking Coalition
Submitted by: Nicole Showers
CAC Case Manager
January is Human Trafficking Awareness month. Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of exploitation. There are two main types of human trafficking: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Sex trafficking is defined as a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud or coercion. Labor trafficking is defined as using force, fraud, or coercion to recruit, harbor, transport, obtain, or employ, a person for labor or services for the purposes of subjection to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or slavery. If the individual being trafficked is under the age of 18, there does not have to be an act of force, fraud or coercion.
A group of individuals in Mid-Michigan recognized that human trafficking was a growing problem and formed the CGI (Clare, Gratiot, Isabella) Human Trafficking Coalition. The coalition was formed in the Spring of 2016 with only a few members, since 2016 the Coalition has grown to 17 members. This coalition includes individuals from Clare, Gratiot, and Isabella counties who are passionate about putting an end to this form of modern day slavery.
The coalition is broken down into three subcommittees: the education committee, the social media committee and the resource committee. Each of these committees is responsible for separate duties including: keeping the Facebook page relevant, developing and presenting educational material, developing and distributing community resources, along with many other tasks. The main goal of the CGI Human Trafficking Coalition is prevention and providing education. Magdalena Lopez, the chair of the CGI Human Trafficking Coalition stated, "One of the obstacles that CGI currently faces is that we don't know the extent of the effects of human trafficking in our tri-county area.
Therefore, it is one of CGI's goals to complete a community assessment to establish concrete figures regarding our community's knowledge about human trafficking. We are pleased to say that Part 1 of our assessment has been completed and Part 2 is currently underway. Once CGI has tangible information we hope to raise awareness through education and eventually teach our communities on how to appropriately respond to incidents and reports of human trafficking.
If you are part of an agency and would like to host a presentation on human trafficking or you are an individual interested in more information please contact Nicole Showers at (989) 463-1422 or visit the CGI Human Trafficking Coalition page on Facebook.
If you would like to make a donation to the CGI Human Trafficking Coalition please do so through Women's Aid Services of Clare, Gratiot, and Isabella Counties.
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Family Carnival & Expo
Thank you to all of our vendors, volunteers, sponsors, and participants at the 2018 Family Carnival & Expo.
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An Interview with Jennifer Lyons, foster/adoptive parent.
Submitted by: Danielle Schmidtman
CASA Recruitment Coordinator
As a foster parent, how do you feel having a CASA impacted you as a foster parent?
Our CASA was absolutely wonderful; I can't say enough about her. She made our fostering experience much better with her constant support and acts of encouragement. She was invaluable to us. She came every week and was very committed to not only the child she was assigned to, but to his sibling as well. She developed a rapport with both of our children, which meant so much to us. She listened to our concerns, was very caring toward our family, and helped advocate for not only the needs of our foster child, but the needs of our adopted child as well-she truly went above and beyond. Her support for our children and our family was a tremendous help throughout this experience and I am very, very grateful that Judge Bakker assigned her to our case.
How do you feel having a CASA impacted your children?
Having a CASA has impacted my children in a very positive way. Though she was only assigned to one of our children, they both developed a rapport with her very quickly and looked forward to her coming to visit. She became a constant in their young lives and really showed them both that she cares about them; she is amazing with children. We don't have much family in the area, so having our CASA was that much more important for our children. She became someone who the children could see genuinely cares about them and advocates for their well-being. I don't know how we would have gotten through a lot of the tough situations that we encountered during our case without our CASA. She helped our children feel safe.
What would you say to someone who was considering becoming a CASA?
I would be so happy if someone joined CASA after hearing about our story. I would tell them to go for it! Having someone listen to our concerns for our children with an ear that is open minded and supportive is invaluable. Definitely go for it.
If you want to save the world, just start by saving one kid. -Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA.
To learn more about how you can change lives in our community, contact Child Advocacy and ask to speak with Danielle, CASA Recruitment Coordinator.
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Scheduled Classes
Foster/Adoptive/Relative Care Support Group
Tuesday, February 13
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
East Superior Christian Church - Alma
Gratiot County Substance Abuse Coalition Meeting
Tuesday, February 13
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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Greetings,
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter.
The staff would like to say "thank you" to Wendy Currie for her time spent on our Board of Directors and with our Substance Abuse Coalition. We wish Wendy the best in her retirement and we are very thankful for the years we were able to work with Wendy on so many meaningful projects.
Save the date for our annual Alumni Charity Basketball Game on Friday, April 13th at Alma High School. It's going to be a fun family event!
We invite you to stop in and visit us, tour our agency, and meet our staff. So much is changing at Child Advocacy as we continue to grow our programs. We would love to show you around and talk with you about who we are and what we do.
Sincerely,
Audra Stahl
President & CEO
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