Lumina Alliance is receiving a $600,000 grant for violence prevention in schools over the next five years.
It’s not the first time Lumina Alliance has received this federal grant from the CDC.
The nonprofit was one of 22 organizations awarded nationwide.
"So we saw a need for supporting parents and having what can be considered awkward conversations about relationships and puberty and consent and boundaries in an age-appropriate way with younger children. We know from research that it's important to talk about these issues early and often and in a casual way," said Jane Pomeroy, Lumina Alliance Chief Communications Officer.
Resources to help parents have these conversations early on aren’t always available. That’s where grant money to fund this type of education comes into play.
“Right now, we're in five or six middle and high schools in the county providing sex education and healthy relationships curriculum in health classes," Pomeroy said.
That’s not all the nonprofit is doing.
“We're hoping to expand as well. We're in three local elementary schools providing parenting education, and that is after school so it's a time, hopefully, when parents are available," Pomeroy explained.
Christina Kaviani is the Parent Project Director of the Redefine Parenting Program with Lumina Alliance.
She helps with creating the curriculum for parents that is offered at no charge at three schools in San Luis Obispo County.
"Lumina is paying for my time and other prevention staff time so that the schools don't have to pay. Actually, we incentivized and gave gift cards to parents who attended. So we were really trying to remove any sort of barrier. We had childcare, we had translation services, and so we really wanted to be like, you have no reason not to come," Kaviani said.
It’s all in an effort to arm students and parents with the tools necessary to prevent sexual and intimate partner violence before it starts.
“We’re trying really to get away from this, like the one-talk situation. So it's ongoing, it's casual, it's easy and the school's doing it so the parents are doing it. The hope is that once a kid is old enough that they're not going to be harmed or potentially harm someone else. So it all ends with violence prevention," Kaviani added.
“We're really trying to saturate schools with parent education and education in the classrooms for the students as well as in the community, too, to create a community that supports healthy relationships through schools," Pomeroy said.
Lumina Alliance is also hoping to expand these classes and resources to more schools throughout SLO County.
For more information about Lumina Alliance Prevention programs, contact education@luminaalliance.org. or visit LuminaAlliance.org.
