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We’re thrilled to recognize the Oregon-based organization, Voices Set Free, as one of our most successful CDV TOOLKIT partners and our TOOLKIT Spotlight Partner for this month! We’re very proud and immensely grateful for the work they’ve done and continue to do in their community around the resources provided via our 2017 CDV TOOLKIT Distribution Campaign. Every new partner like Voices Set Free is a gateway to reaching exponentially more of the 55 million Americans (children and adults who were these children) profoundly impacted by Childhood Domestic Violence (CDV). |
| The CDV TOOLKIT provides critical evidence-based tools we’ve developed over the past decade collaboratively with leading researchers and using the best know practices in the field that present a clear path to essential triggers for greater awareness, education, preparedness, and empowerment for those who work with children and adults affected by CDV, as well as directly for these children and adults themselves. The CDV TOOLKIT retails for $175, which is just a small fraction of our investment to create the tools in it. But through our CDV TOOLKIT Distribution Campaign, generously funded by the American Legion Child Welfare Foundation, the TOOLKIT was made available to a multitude of organizations nationwide who serve children impacted by CDV for free. |
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In addition to the CDV TOOLKITS distribute through this campaign, two hours of pro-bono support from us were available to each partner. The aim was to much better prepare our partners to foster positive outcomes in impacted children, as well as enable them to better educate other vital community members with whom they collaborate in their respective communities.
The primary goals of this campaign were to 1) define a new category in the field (CDV) to validate the experience of the millions impacted by it, 2) raise awareness about CDV as one of the key major childhood adversities that have a defining impact on a life, and 3) remove the many barriers to getting help that stifle positive life transformations that can change the footprint of this epidemic on our society.
Over the past 6 months, our May TOOLKIT Spotlight Partner – Voices Set Free – have been using the CDV TOOLKIT extensively and effectively to propel these three goals in their region. They have made the information available widely through their community outreach approach to holistically battle the effects of CDV. Using the TOOLKIT, they’ve educated hundreds of Oregonians through presentations, interactive sessions and trainings about the insidious inter-generational nature of CDV and its profound impact on a life, as well as the solutions to mitigate that impact. They were slated to reach hundreds more with five workshops and presentations throughout April alone.
Voices Set Free is passionate about building awareness and building others’ capacity to effectively intervene. Their commitment to this work has been extensive, continuous, and unwavering since the launch of the campaign. They have discovered that the TOOLKIT has led to much greater awareness in their community, as well as heightened interest in learning more, which is evident from a noticeable increase in attendance at their presentations, workshops and events. “Voices Set Free has found a wonderful response to the CDVA TOOLKIT, as evidenced by a very broad group of agencies and individuals attending our sessions from the Portland Oregon metro area,” said Louise Bauschard, Founder and Executive Director of Voices Set Free. They’ve also found that more and more community members are interested in speaking out at these events and sharing their own experiences as relates to CDV, which helps spread awareness and visibility of an issue that impacts so many but is so little known.
Our other CDV TOOLKIT Distribution Campaign partners include a diverse spectrum of organizations across 35 states – from domestic violence shelters, children’s crisis centers, foster care agencies, and schools to courts, DA’s offices, substance rehabilitation centers, homeless shelters and more. Many of them have likewise expressed that they’re finding the CDV TOOLKIT highly beneficial for their staff, partners, and constituents.
CDVA and Voices Set Free are committed to working together and applying the evidence-based resources in the TOOLKIT to actively combat the spread of CDV in Oregon. To that end, we’ve agreed to continue collaborating in other ways beyond the TOOLKIT that expand on these tools to exponentially increase the awareness and cumulative positive impact for those who experience CDV. We are proud of the commitment of Voices Set Free and the wonderful outcomes they have achieved thus far. We wish them continued success and stand by them in their efforts to curb the impact of CDV in Oregon.