How We Help Stop the Cycle of Abuse
Chicktime is a movement empowering women to stop the cycle of child abuse by going into children’s homes/shelters and loving on the kids. We believe that if a child is convinced they are loved their wounds will heal and they won’t lash out when they are adults and repeat the cycle of abuse with their own children. We do this by setting up ONCE A MONTH activities with children living in children’s homes and encouraging women in the local community to come in and teach classes based on their passions. We invite volunteers to come in and play along with the kids during the activities acting as the fun aunt or big sister… just a way of bonding with them and showing them love through time and attention. How can this possibly help stop the cycle of abuse you ask? The hope is that the volunteers will connect with the kids and find ways to come back and help out more with needs the children’s homes have. Chicktime is a gateway to start up these relationships. We are excited to use this space to share the amazing stories of our volunteer who have done just that!
GATEWAY STORIES
Another way that we partner in our community is by partnering with other non-profits. We found these nonprofits via mutual friends and also by going to our county Chamber of Commerce and requesting a list of all nonprofits in the area. We went through the list and introduced ourselves and have made some pretty strong friendships. We have a group of nonprofits in the community that support each other by donating resources and volunteering whenever possible in order to offer what support we can. This past month Chicktime has received feminine and self-care products from other nonprofits to take to our charity partner. We have also partnered with a women’s home and an organization that rescues women from human trafficking. If the girls at our charity partner (or those who were formerly at our charity partner) have needs that Chicktime is unable to meet, we have other contacts who may be able to help. In addition to the nonprofits with who we partner, we have also been partnering with my church. My church has sponsored the girls for Christmas, completed service projects to clean the grounds of our charity partner, and have continually asked how they can help us. The impact from all of this is incredible. I think the most amazing thing though is the trust that has been built between us and our charity partner that has opened even more doors. We are in our 4th year at Chicktime Conyers and we have offered to host a Bible study since we first started serving. However, our charity partner was never really open to having us do that. Last week I received an email from our charity partner asking me if we were willing to host a church service every other week or did we know any pastors that would. I literally screamed with joy! Of course we’re willing! We’ve been willing! I reached out to pastors in the area who are now partnering with us to host church services for our girls. What started out as three women wanting to make an impact in their community has become an entire community rallying around and supporting the work Chicktime is doing. It is overwhelming and I am so thankful for each and every partnership. ~ Heather