About Project PEACE Programs

“Unless we teach our children peace, someone else will teach them violence” Coleman McCarthy

The Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence

Our mission is to create a society in which domestic violence no longer exists.

We strive to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the diverse community of battered women and their children with programs that promote safety, compassion, connection, advocacy, and prevention.

Email: info@wrcdv.org

24-Hour Hotline: (404) 688-9436

Community Office: (404) 370-7670

Project PEACE, WRC Children’s Program

The mission of the WRC Children’s Program, Project PEACE (Peace, Education, Action, Compassion and Empathy) is to build resilience in children exposed to domestic violence by providing them a safe place to aid in identifying their triggers, naming their emotions, promoting self regulation, and ultimately to provide positive future pathways thus breaking cycles of abuse and further eliminating domestic violence. 

Project PEACE Programs

  • Camp PEACE

    The mission of Camp PEACE is to bring children exposed to domestic violence together for a summer of activities that facilitate Peace Education, Action, Compassion and Empathy. Based on principles of Peace Education, Trauma-Informed Care and Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning, Camp PEACE will help children learn alternatives to violence, increase their resiliency, and build compassion for self and others.

  • WRC After School Program

    Daily themed activities around mindfulness aimed to build resiliency in kids highlighting social emotional learning, peaceful conflict resolution, and positive future building.

  • GameChangers Teen Program

    Game Changers is a teen program designed to cultivate resilience, promote self growth, and provide tools for important life skills. This program both serves as a preventative program for teen girls and boys exposed to domestic violence as well as facilitates peace education, compassion for self and others, action, and interdependence.

  • Wind Down Wednesday Resiliency Check In

    A weekly zoom resiliency check in for kids! This is a time to carve out some safe space for ourselves in the week to check in with how we are feeling and practice tools to self regulate

More on Camp PEACE

 

Cassandra Velasco-Adams

Director of Children’s Programming for the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence in Decatur, Ga.

Cassandra Velasco Adams joined Women’s Resource Center in 2014 as a volunteer child and family advocate. After six years of volunteering, interning and working with children at WRC, Cassie became Director of Children's Programming in 2019. Cassandra holds a B.A. in Religious Studies and a M.A. in Religious Studies with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from Georgia State University. Cassie's graduate thesis was entitled “Project Peace: A Nonprofit Project Proposal,” which advocated for mindfulness meditation in public schools as a method for promoting resiliency among children who have been exposed to trauma, regardless of their religious affiliations. Cassie has studied peace education, enabling her to assist in cultivating a peaceful, conflict-aware and safe environment for children visiting the safe house. Cassie has served as our agency's SEE Learning specialist, a program that provides educators with the tools they need to foster the development of emotional, social, and ethical intelligence for students and themselves. She promotes activities that teach children to reflect on the world outside themselves, such as the practice of meditation. She also encourages fun, hands-on and creative learning environments that support the idea that collaboration leads to innovative solutions and produces a larger impact on those working together and the world they are working in.

Ariel Carreras

Child Advocate

Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence in Decatur, Ga.

Ariel Carreras recently joined WRC as a child and youth advocate. She works closely with Cassie Velasco, our director of children’s programming, to design and implement programs and services for kids impacted by domestic violence.

Ariel has worked with Camp PEACE, our violence-prevention summer camp, since 2019. She also spent four years with the YMCA in Family Programming and The After School Enrichment Program for low-income families. Additionally, Ariel is an advocate for mental health awareness with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Outside of community development, Ariel uses photography as a creative outlet.

Ariel is excited to work with the children's program because it coincides with her own passion for mindfulness. Ariel loves helping children see their potential and build their confidence. Her work with children emphasizes feeling grounded and dedicating oneself to taking care of your mental health.