Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is experiencing interpersonal harm, please call or text DOVE’s advocacy line at (206)
The DOVE Project and Vashon Youth and Family Services (VYFS) are now partnering to bring DOVE’s newest prevention education program, Caring Allies for Relationship Equity (CARE Club) to children at Vashon Kids.
Vashon Kids, a frontline resource for island families, offers before and after-school care, as well as summertime childcare for more than one in four elementary-aged Vashon youth each year. In 2021, VYFS provided almost $95,000 in childcare financial assistance for families who could not afford the full cost of care. These funds came entirely from island donations.
While DOVE is known for its work providing resources and support for people navigating interpersonal violence and harm, the agency’s work is just as much about preventing harm from happening in the first place.
CARE Club’s goal is to increase knowledge and understanding —through fun, interactive games and conversations — about topics such as respect, discrimination, fairness, everyday consent, caring for one another and identifying and preventing harm.
“We look at topics like supporting our own and others’ feelings, boundaries, identities and community, approaching these through games, art, storytime, and more,” said DOVE prevention specialist Collin Veenstra, who developed and now facilitates the CARE Club. “Play and creativity can be such important tools for youth to think about big topics in developmentally-appropriate, fun, bite-size ways.”
DOVE draws from various social-emotional learning curricula, then tailors activities and topics to address youth’s interests and feedback for a program that best fits the children and the community. The result is a natural fit for Vashon Kids’ commitment to experiential, youth-informed learning with its participants, said Vashon Kids Director Dalinda Vivero.
“The program builds on itself,” Vivero said. “As the kids start to absorb and understand the material they begin to drive where the conversation goes … this approach aligns perfectly with Vashon Kids’ approach to learning and development of our youth and will expand our impact through education, understanding and empowering our youth to take better care of themselves and others.”
Both VYFS and DOVE look forward to furthering more partnerships in educational programming for youth and families. For instance, DOVE is beginning a virtual prevention education coffee group for family caregivers of youth in kindergarten through 2nd grade, called Planting Seeds, covering support and resources on navigating potentially tough topics.
“In starting these conversations young, we are helping youth develop a strong foundation to build healthy and safe relationships with both others and themselves,” said Veenstra.
For more information about Vashon Kids, including how to donate to their scholarship fund, go to vyfs.org. For more information on CARE Club, see DOVE’s blog post or contact Collin Veenstra at collin@vashondoveproject.org.
