Child Sexual Abuse Prevention/Education

A Season of Thanks

November is the season of giving and being thankful and the Prevention & Education department at Fair Haven Rape Crisis Center is feeling very thankful for the many donations received this year. We’d like to take a moment to recognize our donors, those who have made a single donation, and those who make a continual monthly donation. Your generosity helps ensure that thousands of children in Northwest Indiana are educated on the prevention of child sexual abuse, and for that we are forever grateful to you.

Things have certainly been busy around here since our last update in July! We’ve taught over 6,500 children and teens how to Think First and Stay Safe and about Teen Safety Matters. We have visited 25 schools and community locations. And we have many more schools scheduled through May 2024! We hope to beat our personal record of educating 18,000 students – can we do it? Yes, we can! We’re optimistic that we can accomplish that goal this year.

We joined a coalition! We officially joined the Indiana Prevention Education Coalition where we will work with our counterparts around the State in the mission of educating students on child sexual abuse prevention and teen safety. Our goal is to ensure that all students throughout Indiana receive prevention education and we’ll work with other preventionists around the State to accomplish this goal. Stay tuned for more information as this coalition comes together in its mission.

They say the only constant in life is change, and our department has seen its share of change since July. We want to express our gratitude to outgoing staff members, Jenna Turner, Prevention & Education Coordinator and Grace Steorts, Prevention & Education Advocate. Jenna has gone on to help other families at another organization and we thank her for her stewardship during her time here and wish her the very best. Grace made the difficult decision to leave the department but is doing so to pursue her newfound passion in education and is returning to school to pursue an elementary education degree. We wish Grace the utmost success in her educational pursuit. We thank them both for continuing the mission of the department while they were here and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

With their departure comes fresh faces to the department! Introducing our new P&E Advocate Liza Munoz who will be focusing on prevention and education efforts at the middle school and high school level, and myself, Jennifer Potter, who has taken on the role of P&E Coordinator. We are both busily learning our new roles and look forward to making an educational impact on children and young people in our communities.

In November members of our staff participated in Fair Haven’s 6^th Annual Fairy Tale Ball Fundraiser where dreams of princesses and ballerinas came true for many children in the community. This event was well attended and Fairy Godmother (aka Shana Robertson, Community Relations Director) and Queen of the Ball (aka Kelly Vates, Executive Director) hosted a fabulous time for all that included horse-drawn carriage rides, Princesses, Indiana Ballet Theater dancers, Gary Shakespeare Company Madrigal singers, professional salon hair stylists at the Fairy Dust Salon where attendees received special treatment, an ice cream sundae bar with all the sweet toppings, and many picture opportunities, and let’s not forget the dance party and Silent Auction!

The season of giving continues in December and into the new year and with that the P&E staff look forward to teaching many students over the next few months. We can’t wait to share an update with you again, soon!