PEERS BUILDING JUSTICE
At SPAN, we believe in the power of prevention. Our Peers Building Justice (PBJ) program is dedicated to violence prevention through education by partnering with individuals in four different categories:
- Middle and High School Students
- Middle and High School Teachers
- PBJ After-School Program for Youth
- Community Partners
We incorporate a social justice framework into our age-appropriate curriculum for school-based programs and community trainings. We believe that to end violence against any individual, we must understand and challenge the varying forms of oppression people experience, which are intricately woven into intimate partner violence. In our classroom and community presentations, we work side by side with students and professionals to respectfully and sensitively explore cultural and historical struggles that face our communities every day. This approach allows individuals to develop critical thinking skills in how they view relationships within societal norms and learn tools to create healthy relationships.
CREATING PROTECTIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Our Creating Protective Environments (CPE) project is supported by Youth Advisors and the CPE Project Coordinator. Youth Advisors are high school-aged staff who provide critical perspectives shaping all our prevention and education efforts. They work with youth to identify ways to make our communities feel safer for youth and establish preventative measures for violence in all its forms. The basis of this work is Hot Spot Mapping (HSM). HSM is a tool used to identify areas in and around your community that feel safe or unsafe and allow participants to provide recommendations for the community to develop a safer environment. This tool can be used in schools, community spaces, to assess modes of transportation, and to evaluate online spaces.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION
SPAN hosts virtual and in-person trainings for community members looking to deepen their understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence and how it intersects with experiences of oppression. Trainings are facilitated in Spanish or English and are tailored to meet specific learning goals for your organization. SPAN has supported counselors, advocates, childcare providers, law enforcement and court personnel, as well as many other service organizations, in increasing knowledge and skills to effectively recognize, prevent, and interrupt cycles of violence.