Introducing our 2023 Pinwheel for Prevention Awardees
Each year during Child Abuse Prevention Month, FamilyWise honors organizations and collaboratives with Pinwheel for Prevention Awards in recognition of their efforts to strengthen the safety and wellbeing of children. This year, FamilyWise is happy to lift up the incredible work of 14 awardees statewide for their achievement in preventing child abuse and neglect.
Congratulations and thank you to all those nominated for your incredible work!
Anoka County Housing Resource Team— for their work to provide housing resources and support to Anoka County residents as well as her work in applying for funding and grants to provide residents with options for affordable housing. Their work directly assists families to help them avoid eviction and/or homelessness.
Arrows Family Services — for their work across a variety of programs, including supervised visitation time and parent education for families involved in child protection, children’s mental health, domestic violence court and juvenile justice systems. Along with these services, they have supported the addition of 2 Circle of Parents groups to help parents support parents, created a support group for foster, adoption, and kinship families, and a co-parenting education program.
Families First Children’s Collaborative, Brown County — for their distribution of ACEs education to individuals in the justice system to assist in creating trauma-free court services. They also offer grants to programs that serve families and children and provide protection and prevention resources and programs, including their “Celebrate Calm” Workshop and their connection to Ivy House, which provides care for children that models the family home and provides screening for any unmet needs or abuse.
Lincoln Park Children & Families Collaborative (LPCFC) — for their work across several programs to support family stability and wellbeing, including their Family Time Supervision Program (FTS), Circle of Security Parenting Program (COSP), and low-income childcare. These programs provide trauma-informed care that is accessible and uses incentives to encourage parents to complete their programming.
LSS The REACH Resource Center — for working tirelessly to break cycles of abuse through their work with youth and adults who are unhoused or are living in unstable housing conditions. Every April, they decorate their garden with pinwheels to increase awareness of child abuse prevention.
Minnesota Child Care Health Consultants — for providing exceptional care to FamilyWise’s First Step Childcare Program and many other programs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Their services were accessible at all times throughout the day, including evenings and weekends, and they have a strong commitment to the health and safety of the families and children FamilyWise serves.
Native American Community Clinic (NACC) — for using modern, Western, and traditional Indigenous healing methods to provide medical, dental, chemical, and mental health care for people from all walks of life, specifically Indigenous people. Their clinic honors the treatment path that is most important for the individual or family, and also provides a variety of community building and educational programs to provide not only a clinic, but a space of community healing.
Northeastern Minnesota Circle of Parents Program — for working with parents and caregivers to better support children and for teaching parents how to support each other. This program developed to respond to community needs for parenting groups in the area and have been working hard to get the groups up and running.
Olmsted County BRIDGE Collaborative — for collaborating with Rochester Public Schools to provide students with after-school programming, free and reduced lunches, social-emotional learning lessons, and Driving Instruction classes via the Enhanced Driving Institute done with donated cars through Olmsted County and free Behind-the-Wheel practice with Rochester Police Officers. This collaboration has created trust and mentorship to students, as well as creating equal access to driving education opportunities.
PACT for Families Collaborative — for collaborative efforts across five Northern Minnesotan counties and providing wide-ranging services including youth substance abuse prevention, training for ACEs Prevention, support for families going through foster care, kinship issues, or adoption, support for the mental health of youth entering adulthood as well as assistance for their transition, support for Somali and Hispanic youth and their families in transitions, and Wraparound services. Their work supports the resilience of communities and supports families from all walks of life at any stage in their life.
Ramsey County Transforming Systems Together (TST) — for funding community organizations and leaders working to prevent child abuse and aid those affected by the child protection system. TST has a board of community members that review every grant application to ensure underserved organizations and individuals have an opportunity to receive funding. Their work with system leaders is transformative and assists in implementing reform policies, mandates, and legislation to reconstruct the system.
Range Parents Circle of Parents Program — for working with parents and families to support caregiving and parenting growth to better support children.
Rice County Family Services Collaborative — for their usage of a collective impact approach in close collaboration with the two largest school districts in Rice County and county agencies to ensure children and families have opportunities to form relationships with other caring adults, resources to promote mental and chemical health (including access of out-of-school time activities), and assistance in navigating resources and removing financial and transportation barriers.
Together for Good — for providing temporary shelter for children in need of a stable home and for providing relational support and respite for families. Their work helps many families who are isolated and do not have others to turn to while in crisis receive emergency support and stability.
To learn more about Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month, visit our CAP Month webpage.