MP Financial Institutions 'Break the Silence' on Stolen Innocence | Child Abuse Prevention Month
March 31, 2020
Local Financial Institutions stand together to ‘Break the Silence’ on the stolen innocence of child abuse, raising awareness in honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Mercantile Bank of Michigan, Isabella Community Credit Union, and Isabella Bank have joined forces to support the Isabella County Child Advocacy Center (ICCAC) in expanding their prevention education program, Protect Yourself 2.0, to be taught throughout third-grade classrooms in Isabella County.
Last year, on average once every two days, a child victim was referred to the nationally accredited ICCAC on allegations of sexual abuse. The center works diligently to ensure trauma is reduced to child victims and brings community agencies together by fostering a collaborative child-centered approach to child abuse investigation. In addition, the ICCAC teaches crucial prevention education programs to over 1,200 students each year in Isabella County.
The staff at ICCAC is working to expand their prevention education programming to every third-grade student in our community with Protect Yourself 2.0 - a new program to focus heavily on the internet, gaming, and social media safety.
“The reality is that we now live in a world where -starting at a young age - children are exposed to the threat of online predation and cyberbullying,” said Meg Schubert, Executive Director of the ICCAC. “We must equip our children with the ability to identify these threats and provide them with the necessary tools to protect themselves from online predators. We are fortunate to live in a community where the safety of our children is so deeply valued by community partners, as our local finical institutions have recently demonstrated in their support for this program.”
Throughout the month of April, the ICCAC will be generating community-wide awareness for child abuse prevention through their ‘Break the Silence’ campaign. A number of educational and safety webinars for both parents and children will be hosted on the ICCAC social media. Additionally, a number of downtown Mt. Pleasant businesses will be participating in prevention activities including ‘Blue Jean Fridays’ and the showcasing of prevention posters.
For more information on ‘Break the Silence’ campaign activities, please visit www.isabellacac.org or check the Isabella County Child Advocacy Center’s Facebook page.
Contact:
Meg Schubert, Executive Director
meg@isabellacac.org, (989) 317-8787
