Contra Costa Anti-Violence Program Graduates Inaugural Class

CONTRA COSTA, CA -- A program seeking to turn victims of violence into community leaders has graduated its inaugural class. The Contra Costa Family Justice Center says the first group of 2016 Community Fellowship Program students graduated Dec. 16.

The Contra Costa Family Justice Center launched the new iteration of its community fellowship program in March. It's designed to equip survivors of interpersonal violence with leadership skills to empower their long-term success.

This 10-month program accepted five individuals for each program location, Concord and Richmond. Their work aligned with the Center’s mission of violence prevention/interruption and long-term sustainability for community members in the areas of domestic violence, sexual abuse, child abuse, elder abuse and human trafficking.

As part of a cohort, Fellows received training on how to develop and complete community projects on their own while guided by mentors in track areas including advocacy, training/events, project coordination and technology.

The Fellows’ projects included: transforming the West Center’s outdoor space into a healing sanctuary, creating a step-by step resource guide for Latino parents of children with special needs, distributing self-care bags for victims, hosting monthly community circles for survivors and connecting the GRIP shelter to the Cooking Matters Program, among others.

The Center will be accepting applications for its 2017 Community Fellows Program at both program locations starting January 2017.

The Central Center location is at 2151 Salvio St., Suite 201, Concord. The West Center location is at 256 24th St., Richmond. For more information, please contact Annabelle Berrios: annabelle@cocofamilyjustice.org

More about the Fellows and their projects can be found at http://tinyurl.com/videos2016 and http://www.cocofamilyjustice.o...

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