Clay County citizens are investing in building resilience and strengthening protective factors for children and families through a community wide effort. To jumpstart the effort, a wide cross section of Clay County community members came together Monday, Feb. 17 for the first Clay County Community Café organized by the local Community Child Protection Team in collaboration with N.C. Prevent Child Abuse.
The night was a huge success with 45-50 people in attendance, which is one of the largest community café’s that has been done for a community our size across North Carolina. Attendees were asked three questions by the skilled staff of NC Prevent Child Abuse:
• Think about a challenging time in your family and what made you feel proud in that situation — who could you count on to support you?
• What are some possible barriers that keep parents or families from asking for help?
• What are some challenges that make it difficult for us to keep children safe in our community?
The answers were recorded and responses will be used to make a plan for how our community can better work to ensure all children in Clay County grow up in a safe, stable and nurturing com- munity where families thrive.
At the Community Café, attendees were invited and given tickets to attend a viewing of the documentary “Resiliency: the Biology of Stress and Science of Hope” at Village Church who hosted two viewings of the film at 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24.
N.C. Prevent Child Abuse is working with five other counties to guide them in the process of creating a Community Prevention Action Plan with the mission to educate, empower and support communities on effective child abuse and neglect prevention so every child grows up in a safe, stable and nurturing environment.
The Clay County Community Child Protection Team has been working with N.C. Prevent Child Abuse for the past year on this process. The Community Café was one of the first steps to capture the voice of the community to help create Clay County’s Community Prevention Action Plan, which will be presented to the Clay County Commissioners in April during National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The Clay County Community Prevention Action Plan will use what is known as the Five Protective Factors that include being sure our families have supportive social connections, concrete support, knowledge of parent and child development, social and emotional competence and parents that have resilience. See our info graphic for more information about the Five Protective Factors.
This effort could not have happened without the strong collaboration between com- munity agencies and partners. Free childcare was provided at no cost by Hayesville Child
Development; the Clay County Senior Center provided the space for the Community Café and Rock Bottom Recovery actively promoted and supported the Community Café. In addition, steering committee members, who represent a wide range of community partners, volunteered at the event.