The event showcased local nonprofits that decorated a unique tree for display around the THELMA facility. The decorated trees were listed for silent auction bidding and funds raised supported the nonprofit.
The Diversity Relations tree, Candy Cane Lane, was one of over 35 trees decorated for the event! In support of MPTC’s mission of growing minds, businesses, and communities through innovative learning experiences, attendees were to encouraged to view our tree and envision students from all ages and walks of life choosing their path/lane to learn a trade, earn a degree, obtain a certificate, participate in training or simply gain knowledge. White signified an opportunity for a new beginning, a blank page of a notebook that waits to be written upon. Red signified the chance to take action to pursue a professional or personal passion with energy and confidence.
“Moraine Park’s students and employees are active in the community and dedicated to volunteerism. I am proud to work for a organization that is so involved and to work on a team that rises to the occasion when there is a need or want in the community,” said Leslie Laster, director of diversity, accessibility and support services.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. It’s time to draw attention to the prevalence of sexual assault and educate ourselves and our communities about how to prevent it.
Did you know that 1 in 5 women in the U.S. experience sexual assault in their lifetime? Nearly 25% of men in the U.S. also experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Nationwide, 81% of women and 43% of men report experiencing some form of sexual harassment or assault.
The movement to end sexual violence in the United States, and around the world, relies on people who have made a choice to do something. Sexual violence often seems inevitable, but the choice to do something and get involved has made incredible changes in national and global conversations about sexual violence. In recent decades, these changing conversations have expanded support for survivors and led to substantial innovation in the work of preventing sexual violence.
There are many ways you can become involved in the work of changing conversations about sexual violence, supporting survivors, and preventing sexual violence before it ever happens.
Wear DENIM for Denim Day on April 27, 2022, when millions of people across the world will wear jeans with a purpose, support survivors, and educate themselves and others about all forms of sexual violence.
Moraine Park Technical College has presented ASTOP with its 2021 Community Partnership Award. This award recognizes a community partner organization who has gone above and beyond in their role of working with Moraine Park students in student community impact opportunities.
ASTOP is a sexual assault service provider offering treatment, outreach, prevention, and advocacy. ASTOP emphasizes hope and connection to self and others, serving Fond du Lac, Green Lake and Waushara counties. In 2021, despite Covid restrictions, MPTC volunteers served over 300 hours at ASTOP and 3,500 hours overall!
ASTOP Executive Director Nicole Krause said, ““We are so grateful to have been chosen for this award. To say this is an honor is an understatement. Partnerships like this happen when different organizations work together. We cannot thank everyone involved enough! Volunteers are an integral part of our agency and the services ASTOP provides to the communities we help. We really appreciate the time the students have dedicated to our clients.”
Some student words of reflection include:
This is a very fulfilling position knowing you can help empower or even make someone smile when they are hurting inside.
I learned that ASTOP is a very rewarding service provided in Fond du Lac, Green Lake and Waushara counties. ASTOP stands for Assist Survivors Treatment Outreach and Prevention. They have extensive training for staff to support survivors and the affected family members. They try and educate as much as possible through preventative education programs. about sexual abuse rape and or incest. ASTOP offers a crisis line that is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week 52 weeks a year. Another thing that is offered through ASTOP is cost-free counseling. This helps lighten the burden of cost when one is seeking help.
The best thing I learned about what ASTOP offers was about the Art therapy. I know someone that benefited from that a great deal and was just accepted from high school with a full scholarship to an art school. She is doing amazing things and that gives me something to strive to be. Someone to change a human being’s life.
ASTOP also offers Medical Advocacy which helps victims of sexual assault and helps them through the legal system. Having this option to help people deal with whatever situation they have really helps. I am glad they have this as a option to help anyone through their life situation. Just knowing that someone or anyone is there to help is always a great option. I learned so much that I myself could be trained as a medical advocate or volunteer on the crisis line.
As we wrapped up the crisis phone call, the victim gave me the satisfaction of what I wanted to hear, “I can’t thank you enough. You’ve really made me feel empowered.” That is all I wanted to do in this position. I just wanted people to walk away after talking to me and think ‘That was a pleasant phone call’ or ‘That conversation made my day.’ This is a very fulfilling position knowing you can help empower or even make someone smile when they are hurting inside.
“ASTOP has been an amazing organization to volunteer for my service learning project. They are very flexible and do not require a certain amount of hours. I really like that I am able to do the crisis line from home. My favorite part of this volunteer opportunity was the training. The training was about 9 hours in total. I learned so much about sexual assault. It was also really interesting learning about different kinds of grounding exercises. These are very important to use during a crisis call. Grounding exercises really help a person in crisis calm down.”
“Another area that I was trained in was patient advocacy. When learning about patient advocacy I learned a lot about what happens at the hospital for a sexual assault victim. I think this volunteer opportunity will greatly benefit me as a future medical assistant. It has taught me how to speak to assault victims. It has also taught me even more about confidentiality. ASTOPS confidentiality is actually even more strict than HIPAA, which I found very interesting. I now know a lot more about sexual abuse and how to talk to victims. I also now have a resource that I can offer to patients if they are a victim of sexual abuse. I plan to continue to volunteer for ASTOP for a very long time. I think they are an amazing organization and a great benefit to the FDL community.” Courtney Dickow, MPTC Medical Assistant Student
“Courtney, thank you for all that you do for ASTOP. We would not be able to maintain a 24-hour advocacy and crisis line response without volunteers like you. It’s reassuring to hear how your volunteer training has helped prepare you for your chosen career field. We appreciate you!” Nicole Krause, Executive Director, ASTOP, Inc.
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