Amigas de Lenawee Moviéndose Adelante
Supporting survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence in Michigan.
Amigas de Lenawee Moviéndose Adelante (Lenawee Friends Moving Forward), provides outreach and support groups for survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence populations in Lenawee County, Michigan. The program supports Latino(a) survivors of sexual assault and offers participants opportunities to share their experiences and perspectives with other survivors, with the aim of establishing a network of peer support. Participants are also provided with information about local resources for sexual assault survivors provided by our partner, the Family Counseling and Children’s Services of Lenawee County’s Catherine Cobb Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program.
Due to the sensitive nature of the topic of sexual assault, Community Health Workers are excellent facilitators for group discussion and can provide culturally and linguistically appropriate information. As members of the community, Community Health Workers are well suited to earn the trust and respect program participants, a task which may be difficult for others.
The group sessions are culturally tailored for the community and have a creative aspect, where participants are free to express themselves artistically and without fear of judgement. Community Health Workers also conduct outreach and refer individuals for additional services.
MHP Salud’s Community Health Workers are uniquely qualified to support survivors of IPV because of their close connection to the community. By bringing community members together through outreach, CHWs are natural facilitators for support groups.
Amigas de Lenawee Moviéndose Adelante began in October 2017 and will conclude in September 2019. This project was supported by Grant No. 2017-UW-AX-0018 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violenb ce Against Women.
