Kymari House is proud to partner with the Child Advocacy Center and other agencies in Rutherford County to support 19 Days of Activism for the Prevention of Abuse and Violence Against Children and Youth. Addressing this issue is more important than ever given what we now know about the impact of violence and other negative experiences over the entire lifespan of children and adults. According to information provided by the Tennessee Department of Health, Adverse Childhood Experiences, or “ACE’s,” are “stressful or traumatic experiences that disrupt the safe nurturing environments that children need to thrive.” These experiences include such things as child abuse, family separation/divorce, witnessing domestic violence, homelessness, and bullying.
These ACE’s cause so much stress for children, the effects can be felt far beyond childhood. And the impact is not just psychological. ACE’s impact outcomes related to physical health as well. Surprisingly, exposure to these adverse childhood experiences can lead to greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, liver disease, and fetal death. The Department of Health says, “The more exposure to ACE’s a person has, the more his or her risk increases for these issues.”
Despite these risks, research shows that safe, nurturing relationships early in life can lessen the damaging impact of ACE’s. It is crucial to the long-term health of our entire community that we work together to help families prevent these negative experiences for children, and heal from them once they occur.
Kymari House works to strengthen families through support services that include supervised visitation, exchange, and counseling for families experiencing disruptive conflict. We help families provide safety and stability for children, even during the most difficult of times, and all services are provided without regard for families’ ability to pay. According to the Department of Health, one of the most prevalent adverse childhood experiences facing children in Tennessee is the separation/divorce of their parents. Kymari House can help families experiencing high conflict around separation/divorce by providing a neutral environment that supports both parents for visitation, counseling, and conflict management. We also provide a safe environment for children who have experienced abuse/neglect to have quality time with their absent parents while the family is separated. This allows children to maintain a safe, nurturing bond with their families and lessens the impact of family separation.
By working together, we can improve the lives of children, adults and our entire community through prevention and early intervention around these important issues. Please join with us in working to make Rutherford County a safe, nurturing place for children. When we place children first, our entire community wins.
