Causes: Child Abuse Prevention, Crime & Law, Crime Prevention, Domestic Violence, Protection Against Abuse, Sexual Abuse Prevention

Mission: Impact personal safety empowers children and adults by teaching them to prevent and defend themselves against verbal, physical, and sexual violence.

Programs: Public school classes - we teach the majority of our classes through collaborations with public schools in santa fe, rio arriba and bernalillo counties. These classes address many aspects of violence prevention, including healthy relationships, the roots of violence, anti-bias/anti-bullying, verbal and physical boundary-setting, de-escalation and self-defense. Impact does almost all of its work with youth in public schools; in an already supportive environment, children and teens are more likely to disclose any problems they are having at home as well as explore new behaviors that could prove beneficial to them in the future. When students feel safe, respected and confident at school, they are more likely to thrive both socially and academically throughout their lives. 2,438 people attended.

other youth programs - we work with youth organizations and private schools such as the boys & girls club of santa fe, girl scouts of new mexico trails, new mexico gsa network, santa fe girls school, and alternatives to detention to provide skill-based violence prevention classes. These classes address many aspects of violence prevention, including healthy relationships, the roots of violence, anti-bias/anti-bullying, verbal and physical boundary-setting, de-escalation and self-defense. In an already supportive environment, such as a school or community organization, children and teens are more likely to disclose any problems they are having at home as well as explore new behaviors that could prove beneficial to them in the future. 369 people attended.

adult programs - we know that it is critical to work not only with youth but also with adults to ensure that the skills and attitudes that the youth learn are enforced and supported by the adults in their lives. We work with teachers, school staff, parents, conference attendees and community influencers to help create a community that promotes safety as an important value. These classes and programs address many aspects of violence prevention, including healthy relationships, protecting young children, approaches to violence prevention, the roots of violence, anti-bias/anti-bullying, verbal and physical boundary-setting, de-escalation and self-defense. Impact also presents at events, conferences, schools, provider meetings, and coalition meetings. 999 people attended.

public classes - our public experiential classes teach verbal and physical boundary-setting and self-defense. Impact teaches empowerment self-defense (esd), a self-defense model which states that each class must address the culture of violence (sexism, gender socialization, etc. ) and teach boundary-setting and de-escalation skills. Graduates of our program report feeling safer, more confident and more free once they know they have the power to prevent violence. Our adult self-defense classes cover topics such as healthy relationships, setting boundaries with people you know, threat assessment, threat management, and verbal and physical self-defense. Children ages 6-12 receive a developmentally appropriate curriculum that teaches stopping unwanted touch, setting boundaries, physical self-defense skills and getting help from a trusted adult. 84 people attended.