Northern Michigan Alliance for Children invites you to celebrate Child Abuse Prevention Month this April

Northern Michigan Alliance for Children invites you to celebrate Child Abuse Prevention Month this April

Northern Michigan Alliance for Children (NMAC), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit child advocacy center (CAC) based out of Harrison, Michigan that serves children and families in Clare, Gladwin, and Missaukee Counties. April is nationally recognized as Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month!

Child Abuse Prevention Month is a time when communities come together to raise awareness about prevention strategies that create supportive environments that empower parents and help them access the tools they need to raise their children in safe, loving, and nurturing homes. In Michigan, we have adopted a new theme for Child Abuse Prevention Month: Strong Families, Strong Kids, Strong Communities. This theme speaks to the fact that promoting and building upon the strengths of families all year long and providing the tools necessary to care for their children safely before abuse or neglect is even a possibility!

Ways to get involved this Child Abuse Prevention Month:

• April 9: 5:30 p.m. Northern Michigan Alliance for Children and Child Abuse and Neglect Council (CAN) of Clare & Gladwin County partner for a Family Movie Night at Ideal Theatre featuring the family film Wonder. Free admission and small pop + popcorn per guest. First come, first serve.
• April 15: 5-9 p.m. Pints for Prevention at Four Leaf Brewery; a fun evening of live music by Ryan Ambs, food, brews, and awesome crews! $1 per pint sold will go back to NMAC.
• April 18: 5-7 p.m. Stewards of Children - Darkness to Light Child Abuse Prevention Training at Beaverton Activity Center. Free to any Clare, Gladwin, or Missaukee Community Member! Dinner will be provided, space is limited, register today by emailing Ashley Vandersall at avandersall@mikids.org. Safe childhoods start with you! Learn to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
• April 21: 1 p.m. Clare County Prosecutor’s Office presents 3rd Annual Crime Victim Walk at the Harrison High School Athletic Sports Complect. This year’s theme for Crime Victims’ Rights Week is- How would you help The purpose of this family friendly event is to organize our community’s resources and to showcase how we work together to raise awareness for victims of crime in our area.
• All month long:

o Grab a Scuba drink at Clare Biggby and $1 will go to support NMAC’s prevention efforts.

o Wear Blue on Friday’s, take a picture, and tag NMAC on Facebook to spread awareness of Child Abuse Prevention month!

o Follow us on Facebook for all things Child Abuse Prevention Month.

April is Child Abuse Prevention month, but with a mission to advocate for children, promote healing, and prevent future abuse, NMAC provides prevention education programs for children, parents, caregivers, and professionals in the community programming all year around. These programs include The 5 Protective Factors, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Health Outcomes of Positive Experiences, and Strengthening Families Framework, Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children. NMAC partners with the public schools in Clare and Gladwin County to provide MBF Child

Safety Matters®, a comprehensive, evidence-based, child-focused prevention curriculum that empowers and educates children with tools on how to prevent, recognize, and responding to bullying, cyberbullying, all types of abuse as well as digital device dangers.

“We are all partners in prevention and have a role to play. Here at NMAC we believe that no one person has all the knowledge, skills, and experience to protect our children. Only together can we build a community where families are strong, children are safe, and abuse is prevented, not tolerated. Please join us this month in spreading awareness about this critical issue.” states Desirea Woodworth, Executive Director at Northern Michigan Alliance for Children.

For more information about NMAC and how you can contribute to Child Abuse Prevention Month,

visit: https://www.facebook.com/NMACkids or www.mikids.org.