GREAT FALLS — NoMore Violence Week is a week of awareness events made possible through partnerships with over 25 community organizations. On Monday, the first day of NoMore Violence Week, the Prevent Child Abuse & Neglect Task Force (PCAN) re-launched their "Yours, Mine, Ours: Let’s Unite to Keep Kids Safe" community outreach campaign.
The campaign is focused on raising awareness and action to prevent child abuse and neglect in the Great Falls community.
“This is a very powerful week for me,” said Jamie Marshal, co-chair of the PCAN Community Education & Outreach and Chair of NoMore Violence Week. “When I first moved to Great Falls, it was at a time when we were experiencing quite a few deaths of children at the hands of child abuse, and this was a way that I found for myself that I could start to be involved, was just to become more aware. We have a bunch of organizations that have helped make this happen today and this is really meant to be a symbol to our community that every child deserves a safe and healthy childhood.”
Last year in Cascade County, more than 600 children were reported to be living in foster care as a result of experiencing abuse or neglect.
The Yours, Mine, Ours campaign aims to organize for action and find community solutions for addressing child abuse and neglect in Cascade County.
On Monday morning, the PCAN Task Force planted a field of blue pinwheels outside of Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, surrounded by life-size silhouettes of children, representing that every child deserves a safe and healthy childhood.
“We just want our community to be aware, just simple acts of prevention that we can all do for each other,” said Louisa Libertelli-Dunn, director of operations at Peace Place. “Peace Place provides free respite care for children (ages) 0-5 and then after- school kids, and what that does is, it gives a few hours of decompression and downtime for mom and dad or caregivers, so they can do some self-care. Self-care is the number-one key to prevent child abuse and self-abuse, and what it also does, is it allows kids to burn energy, yay, and have a lot of fun, so they’re building self-care.”
No More Violence Week runs from April 5th through April 9th, with events, training, and community discussions on topics such as violence and abuse, human trafficking, addiction, and mental health. “NoMore Violence Week” focuses on awareness and a coordinated positive community response to concerns. More than 25 organizations work together for a full week of training and activities. Sessions will be held virtually this year. They’re free, but Marshall encourages people to register ahead of time. Click here for a full schedule and to register for events.
For more information, you can also visit volunteergreatfalls.org or contact Jamie Marshall at 617-519-3980 or jamiewyatt1@gmail.com.
