Events
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Our mission to eliminate child abuse from the Wiregrass would not be possible without your support. Please join us in one of our upcoming fundraisers to help support our programs or make a donation.
Previous Events
Book Club
Mike Schmitz has partnered with the Exchange Center for Child Abuse Prevention to host a COMMUNITY-WIDE BOOK READ, where we will join together with our community for a weekly open discussion on the book “What Happened to You?” by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah. This will be an interactive conversation on the book’s main concepts including trauma, brain development, resilience, and healing. We hope to raise awareness of the impact of ACEs as well as engage with others interested in how communities can use a trauma-informed approach in supporting children and families.
Childhood Trauma and The Power of Creating an Authentic Connection
Motivational Speaker Derek Clark’s life is one of resilience and redemption. As a child, he suffered unthinkable child abuse, abandonment and emotional distress before being turned over to the psychiatric hospital at age five. His 13 years in the San Francisco bay area foster care system reflected an early life of humiliation, aggression, emotional distress, overwhelming anxiety, and being wrongfully labeled. Eventually, with the help of foster parents, a fantastic social worker, and mentors, he defied the artificial limitations imposed upon him. Derek knows first-hand how to cope with adversity and overcome hardship. His past has never held him back from accomplishing what he set his heart and mind to.
"The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice."
Peggy O'Mara
