Over the last two weeks, new volunteers, staff, and board members participated in our 27.5 hour volunteer training program. The training consists of 15 hours in-class training and an additional 12.5 hours of online training.
The training gives new volunteers, interns, staff, and board members a look into the ins and outs of the organization and prepares them for providing support and advocacy to victims and survivors of sexual assault and child abuse.

Please join us in congratulating them for their hard work and willingness to serve the individuals of our community!

Others that attended during portions of the training but are not pictured are:
Barry Putnam – new board member
Mary Haigler – new board member
Letha Davis – seasoned volunteer

Beyond Abuse provides a variety of programs to schools and community organizations such as civic groups, day cares, law enforcement, medical professionals and social service agencies.  All curricula for daycare/schools/colleges are age appropriate and developmentally suitable for the population in which we serve.  Topics include safe vs. unsafe touch, identifying perpetrators, personal rights, laws/statistics/definitions of sexual assault, substance abuse/use, risk reduction behaviors, etc.  Presentations are designed to promote positive attitudes, behaviors and social conditions that will reduce the perpetration of sexual violence, increase the number of victim disclosures and increase referrals for victim services (i.e., counseling, advocacy, specialized children’s services).  For the 12 months ending Sept 2018, the Education Program at Beyond Abuse conducted 258 programs and reached 21,564 children and adults in the three county service area.

Melissa Macias

A graduate of Lander University with a BS in psychology, Melissa joined the agency in 2018 as an Education Specialist.  She focuses on outreach and awareness programs for schools in our service area.  She is a member of the Chamber’s Connect Young Professionals (CYP) group and recently achieved her Victim Services Provider (VSP) certification.  Her hobbies include reading, baking, and spending quality time with her family and fiancé.

Jeremiah Grooms

Jeremiah joined the Beyond Abuse staff as an Education Specialist in 2018. A developing passion for social justice, community cooperation, and youth development led him into the non-profit world after graduation. Jeremiah received a B.S. in Criminology from Lander University with minors in Political Science, Sociology, and Homeland Security. He is an outdoorsman, huge fan of coffee, musician, and husband to an incredible wife.

Claire Weiters

A graduate of Lander University with a BS in Early Childhood Education, Claire joined the agency in 2017.  A passion for working with children led her to focus on primary prevention.  Claire provides multi-session educational programs primarily to elementary and middle school students. She also represents the agency at Greenwood Community Indicators Project.  She enjoys spending time with her family and dog Harvey, cooking and planting flowers.