Adopt-A-School Program

Over 6,500 children are referred every year to the Monterey County Family and Children Services unit because of neglect, physical or sexual abuse, parental absence or similar reasons. While there are programs dealing with such problems after they occur, Harmony At Home, a non-profit agency, is focused on preventing this cycle of violence and abuse before it begins.

Domestic violence is an escalating pattern of assaultive and/or coercive behaviors that may include physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Domestic violence affects victims in all walks of life, regardless of race, social or economic status. Unlike most other crimes, victims of family violence are victimized by people they trust and love.

Violence in the home affects everyone in the household.

Harmony At Home is helping schoolchildren learn alternatives to violence through our Sticks & Stones^®  school-based counseling program. Operating in Monterey County since 1997, Sticks & Stones^®  serves children who have been exposed to violence and trauma. The Alisal Union School District is collaborating with Harmony At Home to offer this program in 11 of its schools.

We are asking you to sponsor one of these schools through our Adopt-A-School program. You can help play a key role in breaking the cycle of violence and abuse in families in Monterey County.

Here is what one Sticks & Stones^® Counselor has to say about the program:

Many students at Creekside Elementary have experienced trauma in their young lives, from the loss of a parent, to domestic violence in the home, to the divorce of their parents. As a counselor for Sticks & Stones^® , I have seen the children grow and mature, become better communicators, learn how to show respect and empathy to one another, and share their feelings in healthy ways. As the students' abilities to connect with one another increase, their successes in school increase as well. Their grades, ability to concentrate in class, and ability to get along with their teachers all improve. This program benefits not only the individual students and their families, but the entire school and community as well.

Tracy Keenan, Sticks & Stones^® Counselor
Creekside Elementary School, Spring 2006

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