2024 Q4 Newsletter

Q4 (October-December) was brimming with conference travel and professional development for CCVAP advocates and management. In early December we attended the 18th Annual OVC Indian Nations Conference in Palm Springs, CA. We appreciated the space created for advocacy service providers, educators, and government workers to share best practices in their respective fields. Some key thinking points we brought back with us center the ideas of use of language in restorative justice, implementation of Tribal Community Response Plans in regards to MMIP cases, and survivor-centered advocacy from start to thriving.

We also had the pleasure of attending the second bi-annual 2SLGBTQ+ Conference Presented by Strong Hearted Native Women’s Coalition in Rincon, CA. While this was only a one-day event, we left feeling empowered to be better allies and advocates to our 2SLGBTQ+ community. We appreciated the candidness of each presenter which really fostered a space for difficult conversations to be had in a constructive and healing way while also empowering service providers.

Q4 brought with it some great community outreach opportunities including our Domestic Violence Awareness Month campaign: “Protect Yourself with CCVAP,” Cahuilla’s annual Trunk-or-Treat celebration, the Native American Assembly at Hamilton High, the H.O.P.E Collaborative’s Fall Festival, and the annual Walking Shield Toy Drive! Thank you to all our community partners for your efforts in making these events possible and inviting us out to share more information about our services!

The CCVAP Shelf Care Book Club is going strong with a growing membership. Thank you to Soboba TANF in Riverside for inviting us to host Shelf Care with clients for Native American Heritage month. We have completed two titles, including Looking for Smoke (an MMIP Thriller) and Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology. The author of Looking for Smoke, K.A. Cobell, joined us for a Q&A and we’re so thankful to her and Harper Collins for this amazing opportunity! We are currently reading To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose with our next meeting on 1/4/25! Shelf Care will also be hosting meetings at Los Coyotes Tribal Hall and our Cahuilla office in addition to our Hemet site!