A few years ago, my son banged into the house calling for me. “Mom, I’ve been given an amazing opportunity!”
I crossed my fingers for some varsity sport position, because that’s where his head was at this time in life. The reality was so much better than the fiction I created.
“I was asked to be a mentor in violence prevention,” he said to me.
I was a bit speechless at his pride in receiving the invitation. I’ve learned a great deal since then, but most of it boils down to one simple statement:
Rebecca Mooney has figured out how to make advocacy cool. Rebecca is the executive director of Melrose Alliance Against Violence, an organization that raises community awareness of domestic and teen dating violence, and promote programs that work to reduce violence and encourage healthy relationships.
Not only does MAAV offer incredible outreach programs for students, adults, healthcare providers, and educators, but each year, Rebecca and her team seems to come up with a cool new way to connect.
Recently, Rebecca told me about the plan to partner new middle school students with current high school students to help ease anxiety about the move to middle to high school. “There are so many fears that kids have,” she told me, “and we think that it might be easier to voice those concerns to someone closer in age. So that the younger kids know that everyone goes through it. The younger kids will learn that someone is looking out for them.”
Although I am long past middle school, nothing warms my heart more than big kids helping not-so-big kids. Thanks, Rebecca, for introducing the coolest kind of kind. #melrosekind #maavkind.
