What a week this has been. I'm finally getting the hang of Twitter, still some small issues to figure out. But I'm making some wonderful connections and finding organizations and individuals that I would never have come across had I not started twittering.
So far I have 56 followers and I'm following 160 people/organizations. Its gratifying to see so many socially conscious people who are working as tirelessly for their causes as we are for ours. Those I follow have care and concern primarily for children, but for woman and people in general. Groups who are fighting human trafficking like "@NoMoreTraffic", "@HelpTakAction", "@EndDemand", "@antitrafficking" "@lauralederer". Then there are those who are in the same field as we are, wanting to protect and help keep children safe from sexual abuse, abduction and exploitation in various forms like "@lescnet", "@StopItNow", "@wiredmom", "@noviceleftbehind", "molesterfinder" and "@predatorbuster."
There are so many more and I'll be mentioning them in later blogs, but for now just wanted to say thanks to all those who are following me on Twitter. Be patience with this old horse. I'm still learning and it takes a little longer than it use to, but eventually I get it and when I do, I'm jet fueled and can't be stopped.
We've been working hard this week to be sure we are ready for the wonderful kids, teens and parents at Presideo Monterey next week. I have found as we have traveled around the country over the past several years, that military kids are a bit more prepared than the average bear. These kids are in homes where one and sometimes both parents are deployed quite often so the family units are usually closer knit. The parents are diligent about teaching what they know about personal safety. We get to come in and fill in the gaps and let the kids know just how many advocates they have working on their behalf.
The military in general is impressive when it comes to caring about the families of their military personnel. The Army has their Family Advocacy Program, and their Army National Guard is Operation Ready Families. The Air Force has the Family Support Center and the Navy has the Fleet and Family Support Center. While we haven't had an opportunity to work with the Marine Corp because their policies (at least in our area of concern) deal primarily with intervention rather than prevention, they also have a unit that is also called Family Advocacy.
These internal military organizations have a wide variety of programs directed at assisting the families in many aspects of daily life. From Domestic Abuse Prevention, Drug & Alcohol programs, parenting help and much more to our field of sexual abuse, abduction and exploitation prevention.
The Army and the Army National Guard seem to have taken the lead in taking this problem on. Their regulations mandate this kind of education and we have been most honored and feel very privileged to be able to continue to work with them year after year.
Tomorrow is another day, and my eyelids are getting heavier by the minute. So in closing here's a prayer for all of those children who are missing tonight and the families that ache to have them home again.
Night All
