CVWU
Violence Prevention Education
With our organization's mission always in mind, we strive to find new strategies for addressing the very important issue of violence prevention in the community. The Raising a City of Champions workshop or (RaCC) program is designed and adapted just for that. Through the program, our team works with parents and children to tackle the problems of violence in our city and how to stay safe.
Raising a City of Champions (RaCC)
Our signature program: “Raising a City of Champions” (RaCC) is modeled from the SURVIVE Community Project and based upon similar children’s mental health programs implemented with urban youth of color and their families in several major U.S. cities. It is a family-based intervention designed to target the harmful effects of exposure to family and community violence on urban youth and their parents. During this 8-session workshop participants build awareness of the impact that being exposed to violence has on them, and their children, and they learn strategies for providing appropriate structure for their children while enhancing communication and overall relationships.
Each session is divided into three thirty-minute segments with exception of the last session which is reserved for the final evaluation, certificate ceremony, and closing celebration. The sessions are divided into a warm-up, program, and de-brief segments Facilitators are local professionals that speak different languages and have a clear understanding of the topics of concern in our community. Below are the session topics:
1: Defining Violence and its Impact on Families
2: Taking Care of You and Your Family
3: Dealing with Conflict
4: Violence and its Impact
5: Domestic Violence
6: Sexual Abuse
7: Immigration and Trauma
8: Reflections
CVWU also offers a youth-focused version of the RaCC program.
Healthy Relationships
The goal of this program is to reduce incidents of youth dating violence and provide youth with tools they can use to identify the warning signs of a potentially unsafe intimate relationship. Our team implements a safe date curriculum where peer leaders are taught the red flags of a potentially unhealthy relationship, how to navigate themselves away from an unhealthy relationship, when to get help, when to involve an adult, and knowing how and when to intervene on behalf of friends or family members. These peer leaders learn the curriculum, receive a stipend for their participation, and are then given the responsibility of implementing the program with other youth within their networks. The program effectively instills confidence and leadership skills in youth by recognizing them as leaders. Additionally, these peer leaders serve as a great tool to get information about the warning signs of domestic violence to vulnerable populations that would otherwise not have access to such information.
What we Know
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1 in 3 adolescents in the US is a victim of some form of abuse from a dating partner
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1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a partner every year
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50% of adolescents who are involved in an abusive relationship will commit suicide
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Violent behaviors usually begin between the ages of 12-16 so it's important to start talking early
What we Teach
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The importance of positive communication
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Red flags and warning signs of abusive relationships
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Strategies to identify, process and communicate basic emotions
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How to be a support system and ally to friends in unhealthy relationships
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Identifying and requesting help
Some of the topics explored during this evidence-based program
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Domestic Violence 101: Defining dating abuse, red flags, types of abuse, and the cycle of violence
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Intersectionality: Gender roles, cultural awareness, stereotypes, media expectations
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Mental Health: Importance of communication & community resources
If you or someone you know would like to participate in any of the programs above, please contact us.
Send us a message!
We look forward to hearing from you. Whether you would like to donate a few hours of your time or work more closely as a regular volunteer with our support team, we want to hear from you.