Dear Members of the Franklin Community,
Please accept this invitation to join community leaders at a Community Awareness Meeting designed to bring members of the community together to discuss the issues of child sexual abuse, to learn about its human and economic impact and what together as a community we can do to prevent it.
These meetings will take place on Wednesday October 19, 2011 at 12:00 noon at the School Department training room at Town Hall and Thursday, October 27th at 7:00 PM at Horace Mann School auditorium. These meetings will last approximately 60 – 90 minutes and are being facilitated by the Hockomock Area YMCA. This presentation has the full support of community leaders in education, public safety and park and recreation, and the Town Administrator.The Hockomock Area YMCA is partnering with Darkness to Light, a national non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of child sexual abuse. Darkness to Light has developed an award winning prevention training, Stewards of Children. Stewards of Children is the first training ever developed that is designed for adults and focuses on prevention. It is an evidenced based training proven to change beliefs, actions and attitudes toward child sexual abuse.This meeting will demonstrate that child sexual abuse is an issue that affects everyone, not just those that were abused and their family members. It will reinforce that the cost, both human and economic, is high but that the solution of prevention is inexpensive and effective. This meeting will clearly illustrate that child sexual abuse can be prevented in real-time and ultimately these meetings will show that by participating in the solution every adult in a community can be a part of a cultural change.These presentations are an opportunity to demonstrate to community leaders the magnitude of the issue of child sexual abuse, its economic and emotional costs to our community and what we can do about it. It is vital that parents, teachers, coaches and all citizens reinforce the message that because children our or future we must protect their childhoods.Please join us in helping to strengthen our Franklin community. We encourage you to invite others whom you think would be interested in this important cause.Please respond by email if you will be able to make one of these meetings. Thank you.Sincerely,Bartt PinchuckBranch DirectorHockomock Area YMCABernon Family Branch45 Forge Hill Road. Franklin, MA 02038P 774.235.2756 | F 508.528.6271
