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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
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
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
Treasurer
Sara Bonacci
Community
Representative
Garth Anderson
Commercial Bank
Brett Baublitz
Transportation Director/City of Alma
Colleen Davis
Prosecuting Attorney's Office
Jim Dubey
Garr Tool
Rob DuHadway
DuHadway Dance Dimentions
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
Gratiot Integrated Health Network
Mark Williams
Alma Public Safety Administrator
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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 Please see new
car seat
guidelines on our website.
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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.
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.
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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
size Newborn, 5, 6
Baby Food & cereal
New or like new clothing
Preemie, newborn, 3, 4, 5, & 6
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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March is Parenting Awareness Month. We hope you will consider attending one of our lunch & Learns, visiting our lending library, and/or attending one of our fun family events.
Parenting is for a lifetime.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter,
Staci Bigelow
Volunteer/Event Coordinator
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Pinwheel Garden Kick-Off Ceremony
Wednesday, April 8th
Time: 12:00 pm
Location: MidMichigan Medical Center-Gratiot
Stewards of Children® Training for
Community Members
Tuesday, April 14th
RSVP Required
Time: 1:00-3:00 pm
Location: Howe Memorial Library, Breckenridge
Charity Basketball Game
DOUBLE HEADER!!
Friday, April 17th
Event starts at 6:30 p.m.
Alma High School Gymnasium
Game 1: St. Louis vs. Breckenridge Alumni
Game 2: Alma vs. Ithaca Alumni
We are looking for Alma, Ithaca, St. Louis, and Breckenridge Alumni who played Varsity Boys Basketball to play in this years charity game. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested in playing. Please send your Name, School, Graduation Year, and Shirt Size!
$5 (or donation) at the door. All proceeds to benefit Child Advocacy's Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Programs.
Telling Their Stories Art Exhibit - Opening Night
Monday, April 27th
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Flora Kirsch Gallery at Alma College
Stewards of Children® Training for Community Members
Tuesday, April 28th
RSVP Required
Time: 5:30-7:30 pm
Location: Ashley District Library
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"Protect Yourself" Program
Parent Night
Submitted by: Morgan Rooy
CAN Program Director
The Protect Yourself program is a 5-session body safety and personal boundary education curriculum that is taught to all first and third grade students in Gratiot County. We are proud to say that the Protect Yourself program reaches over 1,000 children each school year! The series of lessons includes topics of personal safety, recognizing feelings, recognizing tricks and lures, protecting our own bodies, and identifying support and telling. After each lesson, students are sent home with a Parent Page that includes a brief synopsis of the lesson, and related questions for caregivers to ask their children. This is one way that we help to facilitate body safety conversations beyond the classroom. In addition, Child Advocacy began piloting Protect Yourself program Parent Nights in 2019, and we are excited that these Parent Nights are now being scheduled regularly as part of the curriculum. The Protect Yourself program Parent Nights provide in-depth detail of all 5 body safety lessons, as well as additional topics and prompts for deeper discussion. We understand that these conversations may feel awkward, or feel foreign, especially if one did not grow up having heard these conversations as a child. We hope that our Parent Nights help parents and caregivers feel confident and comfortable with the topics of body safety and personal boundaries, and empowered to begin having deeper discussions with their children. Parents and caregivers are a child's first and most influential teacher; let us help with making these conversations a natural part of parenting.
Our Protect Yourself program Parent Nights are advertised in our newsletter, on our website and Facebook page, and within all Parent Letters that are sent home from the schools. For more information about Protect Yourself program Parent Nights, other body safety education training, or general body safety information, please contact us at 989-463-1422 or [email protected].
Here are some of our favorite body safety websites:
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Above the Influence
Media Campaign
Submitted by: Sara Krebs
GCSAC Prevention Coordinator
Above the Influence is a national program that is run locally thought the Gratiot County Substance Abuse Coalition. In this program, students from local high schools participate in Above the Influence meetings led by the Coalition's Prevention Educator- Alexa Morton. The meetings are held throughout the school year and focus on providing facts and education to help students find ways to stay above negative influences. In addition to learning about and promoting ways to stay above negative influences, the groups are active in various other ways throughout the community. Above the Influence hosts awareness events at high school basketball games, and participates each spring in the Telling Their Stories Art Show at Alma College. Recently some of the ATI students also had the opportunity to work on developing a media campaign designed to educate youth on the dangers of substance use.
To develop the media campaign, the Gratiot County Substance Abuse Coalition's Above the Influence program partnered with Alma College's BitWorks Productions. The media campaign project focused on a variety of topics- alcohol, smoking, marihuana, and suicide prevention. In addition to making videos, the teens who participated were able to have honest conversations with local law enforcement on issues that teens are facing today.
The videos that were produced in this series are being shared on the Above the Influence: Gratiot County Faceook page to raise awareness on the dangers of substance abuse. We invite you to visit the Above the Influence: Gratiot County Facebook page to view the videos and share them with your friends!
If you are interested in becoming involved in local substance abuse prevention and suicide prevention, please consider joining us for our monthly meetings. The Gratiot County Substance Abuse Coalition (GCSAC) meetings are held monthly on the second Monday of the month at 1pm in MidMichigan Medical Center- Gratiot's Wilcox Auditorium. All meetings are open to the public. If you have any questions about monthly meetings or the GCSAC please contact Emily Rayburn, GCSAC Coordinator at
[email protected] or 989-463- 1422.
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Scheduled Classes
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1st Thursday of every month
Alma Public Library
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m
Child Advocacy will be hosting monthly lunch & learns on a variety of topics. We hope you will join us. Please email Staci at [email protected] to RSVP or call (989)463-1422.
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Greetings,
I hope by the time you read this we are well on our way to Spring weather! As I type this out we are in the midst of a snow storm, and I have personally had enough of winter. With Spring right around the corner we are excited to announce they we are hoping to break ground on our new build very soon. We are all set to go and at this point we are just waiting on permits from the State. Fingers crossed these come through very quickly.
If you are interested in donating to the new building and would like to have your name, business name, or family name as part of this project please contact me at [email protected].
We have many opportunities for naming spaces in the building, and a "Giving Wall" that will be proudly displayed in the front lobby with donor names. What a great way to leave your mark on something that will have such an impact on the residents of Gratiot County.
Sincerely,
Audra Stahl
President & CEO
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