Two weeks ago, Central Bucks Family YMCA had a big day for their Darkness to Light program. 16 community members began their training to become facilitators for the “Stewards of Children” awareness program. I am proud to announce the following people are our newly trained facilitators:
- Julie Townsend, Central Bucks Family YMCA
- Megan Mattingly, Central Bucks Family YMCA
- Kristen Griego, Central Bucks Family YMCA
- Jenny Danzis, Central Bucks Family YMCA board member
- Ali DeRosa, Lower Bucks Family YMCA
- Ralph Sharp, Lower Bucks Family YMCA
- Pat Edwards, Upper Bucks YMCA
- Allyson Fox, Upper Bucks YMCA
- Susan Weida, Pearl Buck International
- Sam Tancredi, First Savings
- Karin Kasdin, Peace Center
- Jill Masterson, YWCA Bucks County
- Sandy Blitzstein, YWCA Bucks County
- Laura Jones, Big Brothers Big Sisters
- Joe Rusiwicz, Upper Main Line Y
- Jeannine O’Neill-Rohrbach, Reading YMCA
They join the following Bucks County residents who are already trained as Facilitators:
- Debbie Tettemer, Central Bucks Family YMCA
- Tom Swanciger, Lower Bucks Family YMCA
- Ruth Huth, Lower Bucks Family YMCA
Leslie Slingsby from the Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center gave a presentation of the great work that the CAC does to protect children. Bucks County is one of the few counties that has an Advocacy Center for children. These new trainers now have the skills to go into our county and teach the community how to recognize, prevent and react responsibly to the sexual abuse of a child. Congratulations and a big thank you to these new trainers for their time and passion. We look forward to their future trainings to create a healthier Bucks County.
These are the facts: 1 in ten children will be sexually abused before the age of 18. 90% of children knew their perpetrator. Presently, there are more than 39 thousand survivors that are known. Only about 5% of victims disclose their abuse. These startling facts need a reaction and the “Stewards of Children” program will help increase awareness and create a healthier county for our children. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect children.
Now that we have a total of 18 Facilitators in Bucks County, we are ready and willing to bring this program to your organization. Central Bucks Family YMCA also teaches this program monthly. If you are an individual who would like to take this program, the next training is on September 21. Please feel free to contact the YMCA or Ro Molyneux directly at Rmolyneux@cbfymca.org or 215-348-8131. If your organization would like to offer this training or would like a presentation, we would be happy to work with your organization to set time at your convenience.
If you would like to learn more about the Darkness to Light Foundation. please go to their website for information for individuals or youth serving organizations at www.D2L.org
As we continue to train throughout the county we will need to increase the number of facilitators. We would like to offer another facilitator’s training before the end of the year in order to make the largest impact possible by the end of 2014. If you would like to get more involved, we would love to hear from you.
A special thanks goes out to Children and Youth for their support of this program, the Intelligencer for their hospitality and Penn Taproom for supplying a wonderful breakfast and lunch for this training.
About the Contributor: Rosemarie Molyneux has been involved with the YMCA for the past 33 years. Her career began with the Philadelphia Metro YMCA prior to coming to the Central Bucks Family YMCA in 1995 as the Associate General Director. She is proud of the CBFYMCA’s commitment to the community. She recently became a facilitator for the “Stewards of Children,” an awareness program to encourage Bucks County to become more involved in recognizing, preventing and reacting responsibly to child sexual abuse. This program is run in partnership with NOVA. Most importantly, she is a proud mom of two daughters and grandmother of two beautiful grandchildren. This encourages her to stay in shape in order to keep up with her growing family!