Community Education + Presentations - First Step - Wayne County's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Comprehensive Agency

EDUCATION + OUTREACH

First Step’s Speakers Bureau offers an array of educational opportunities centered around prevention, outreach, and survivor-centered advocacy which are available to a wide variety of audiences within the community. This is vital to our agency’s mission of ending intimate partner violence and sexual assault, and an important step in connecting survivors to our life saving services.

First Step’s trained educators and representatives are available to attend and present to all types of events, groups, and settings, including both virtual and in-person opportunities. Audiences range from children and teens to groups like educational institutions, health-care professionals, law enforcement officials, members of the clergy or other faith-based leaders/groups, civic and community organizations, corporations, and other professional associations.

First Step is available for all your education and outreach needs! Check out our most common types of community engagement and outreach requests below. Not seeing what you were looking for? Check out our professional training and consulting page here, or learn more about Speakers Bureau here.

A downloadable copy of our community education and presentation catalog is clickable below, along with information on how to begin scheduling further down the page.

View the First Step Community education + presentation Catalog

Looking to learn about First Step programs or hear about ways to get involved? Want to know more about how to refer survivors to services? Would your group like a light overview of about intimate partner violence or sexual assault? If so, an info session may be best for you!

Info sessions are a great way to educate your group about local resources for survivors and/or how their donation, volunteerism, and referrals directly and indirectly support our agency and mission. Consider scheduling a speaker to come talk at your meetings, fundraisers, community events, and more!

First Step has numerous presentations and programs to offer for a variety of groups - From learning the basics of domestic violence or sexual assault to activating our Crisis Response team.

The length of time chosen for a presentation will decide how in depth our speakers will get. If a presentation or topic that you are looking for is not found, special accommodations may be discussed to see if First Step has the capacity and are the best fit. All presentations include an overview of First Step, including our services and how to refer clients. For a full list of developed presentations, please click on the Community Engagement Catalog above!

For presentations to children and teens, visit this page.

For information on trainings or consultation, and to view a list of training topics, this page.

Whether you are hosting an in-service on a sensitive topic or addressing a recent traumatic event, First Step is available to offer crisis intervention and emotional support to those directly and indirectly impacted by intimate partner and sexual violence. Consider requesting a First Step representative to be available to talk with anyone who may need or benefit from additional support, services, and/or referrals.

Sometimes First Step is able to offer scheduling for off-site, community support groups after a group of individuals are impacted by the same or similar traumatic event. For example, there are unfortunate times where an entity may learn of a heinous crime that impacted numerous students, employees, or visitors ad have interest in creating a safe space for the group to process and heal. First Step has opportunity to host recurring support groups at a location best fit for the group as organized and offered by the entity.

REQUESTING A FIRST STEP SPEAKER OR REPRESENTATIVE

If you are interested in scheduling with First Step's Speakers Bureau, or otherwise requesting First Step representation, please include any relevant information and contact us at communityservices@firststep-mi.org. We encourage at least a month's notice due to the popularity of requests.

FEES + PAYMENT

Most of First Step's community education, outreach, and presentations are free of charge. This often includes engagements to youth, tabling events, and info sessions. However, as a non-profit agency, First Step relies on our community’s support. Reimbursement for time, travel, materials, equipment, and other expenses is encouraged and sometimes requested, particularly for trainings and/or presentations that are lengthy, tailored, or include customized content.

Donations are always appreciated and another great way to support our mission and allow us to continue providing our services. Nonetheless, First Step is dedicated to serving and informing our community and will do so regardless of a partner’s resources or limitations.

LEARN MORE

Visit our other pages to learn about the different types of youth presentations and training topics we have available for request. For information on the Speakers Bureau, visit this this page.