Winter Newsletter | December, 2018
Illuminate Quarterly Newsletter
Winter 2018
Welcome to our final newsletter of 2018! Here at Illuminate, we have had a year of growth and change, a year of achievements to be celebrated and challenges to be met with renewed determination. We hope the same is true for you.

In this newsletter you will find:

  1. Announcements
  2. Upcoming Events
  3. Introducing New Illuminate Staff Members
  4. New Blog Post
  5. Season's Greetings & Holiday Giving
  6. Featured Research - Economic Impacts of Child Maltreatment, & the Financial Costs of FASDs
Announcements


Colorado Gives Day - Thank you!

Thank You for making Colorado Gives Day a success. Our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported Illuminate & brighter childhoods. It was our most successful year yet, & we are so grateful!

Announcing New Funding
We are pleased and grateful to announce two exciting new grants we have received.
Illuminate Colorado is excited to announce that we have received a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation . This funding will support and grow our Circle of Parents in Recovery program. Circle of Parents are specialized parent support groups designed to build protective factors in families. Learn more about the Colorado Health Foundation here , and Circle of Parents here .
Illuminate Colorado is honored to accept a grant from The Colorado Attorney General's Office . These funds will go towards the Substance Exposed Newborns Program . Our SEN work identifies and implements strategies for reducing the number of families impacted by substance use during pregnancy and for improving outcomes for impacted families across the lifespan. 
Upcoming Events
2nd Annual Acts of Kindness Breakfast
Breakfast, kindness, and brighter childhoods? What could be better!

Join us on March 7th, 2019, from 7:30 - 9:00am at History Colorado Center for a morning of kindness, generosity, and a scrumptious morning meal.

Following Random Acts of Kindness Week, the Acts of Kindness Breakfast celebrates the impact that kindness can have in all its forms, especially for children.

When: March 7th, 2019, 7:30 - 9:00 am
Where: History Colorado Center - 1200 N Broadway, Denver, CO 80203
Tickets will be on sale soon!
Introducing New Staff Members
We are excited to welcome several new members to the Illuminate Colorado team!
Anna Michaels-Boffy - Family Support Services Program Manager
Anna Michaels-Boffy is the new Family Support Program Manager with Illuminate Colorado. Anna's professional background includes experience in government agencies, nonprofits, and statewide political campaigns, working on projects focusing on family support services, child abuse, victim services, supportive housing, and education reform, all with the lens of ensuring parents have the support and skills to be successful and children are safe, healthy and happy. Most recently, Anna was the Project Manager at Family Resource Center Association. Anna received her Masters of Social Work with a focus in Organizational Leadership and Public Policy from University of Denver in 2016. Anna lives with her husband in Denver and in her free time loves to travel (37 countries and counting!) and host a weekly bar trivia night.
Jordan Smith - SEN Program Associate
Jordan Smith is the Substance Exposed Newborns Program Associate with Illuminate Colorado. Her professional experience lies in advocating for survivors of violence. Jordan has previously worked at domestic violence shelters and the protection order division of a county courthouse. She gained a love of policy practice while obtaining her Masters of Social Work and working in Colorado’s state house. Jordan is excited for this new role as it combines her passions for data, research, and the wellbeing of families. Jordan is from Indianapolis and loves hiking, running, and cooking vegan food. 

Hattie Landry - Strategic Initiatives Program Manager
Hattie Landry is the new Strategic Initiatives Manager with Illuminate Colorado. Hattie has previously worked on coalition building, policy, and advocacy surrounding reproductive health issues, as well as school-based programs to prevent sexual violence. She is currently finishing up her Master's in Public Health in maternal and child health at the Colorado School of Public Health. In her free time, Hattie loves to ski, hike, travel, cook, and visit her family back home in Alaska.
New from the Blog
Ensuring Safe Environments for Children During the Holidays

The holidays are upon us which for many means spending time with family and friends, and enjoying the season together. This time of year presents a great opportunity for us as adults to take a few extra steps to ensure our children are as safe as ...

Read more
www.illuminatecolorado.org
Season's Greetings from Illuminate!
Thank you to everyone who made 2018 a wonderful year!
We wish all the best to our supporters, collaborators, friends, and everyone making brighter childhoods a reality for Colorado's children.
Consider Supporting Brighter Childhoods for Your End of Year Giving
Donations help us continue to do the work of making sure all children can thrive through safe, nurturing childhoods. With your support, we can continue to offer and expand our programming, find better ways to keep kids safe, and work with more people to make brighter childhoods in Colorado. Individual donations are integral to achieving these goals, and your support can make an impact for generations of Coloradans.
Featured Research

Updated Data on 'The Economic Burden of Child Maltreatment' from the CDC
The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) have released updated fiscal data on the costs of child maltreatment nationally . Previously, the estimated lifetime per-victim cost of nonfatal and fatal child maltreatment based on 2008 incidence data estimated fiscal cost to be $210,000 and $1.3 million. The annual US economic burden was estimated to be $124 billion.
Since that study, new data and alternative methodologies have created an opportunity to update estimates. Updated methods increases the estimated nonfatal child maltreatment per-victim lifetime cost from $210,012 to $830,928 and increases the fatal per-victim cost from $1.3 to $16.6 million. Using estimated incidence of investigated annual incident cases, the estimated economic burden was $2 trillion compared to $124 billion
The Financial Costs of FASDs
New research published by the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences suggests that people born with an FASD will need care averaging $23,000 annually.

Of the countries studied - Canada, New Zealand, The United States, and Sweden - "... many countries devote less than 1 percent of the cost of caring for people with an FASD to its prevention."

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Illuminate Colorado | 303.413.3460 | www.IlluminateColorado.org