While childhood sexual abuse can be a difficult topic for people to talk openly about, Break the Silence Project is hosting a morning of unity and action to empower survivors and raise awareness in the community for the second year in a row.
The “Second Annual Break the Silence Run,” organized with Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center, Taylor Independent School District and Impact Counseling Services, will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 13, and will feature a 1.4-mile walk/run, food, educational activities, a raffle, speakers and more.
“The thing I am most excited about is being able to bring victims closer to the people who can help them,” said Marcus Reese, race organizer and fellow survivor. “That’s what this event will do even better this year than last year. Last year was how do we break the silence. This year is to show how do we close the gap even more.”
Organizers said every part of this event will be free, including race registration, educational resources, sausage wraps, raffle prizes, etc., to allow for more widespread community participation.
“We understand that there is barrier after barrier and pitfalls to people wanting to break their silence about the abuse and we wanted to even be able to shine more light on the mystery behind that,” Reese said. “Because what people don’t know, they tend to fear.”
Reese added that to spotlight the concrete steps victims must take to break the silence, the event will also feature a panel discussion of Williamson County personnel who directly aided Reese as he sought to bring his abuser to justice.
“We will have someone from the actual police department, who helped me, someone from the district attorney’s office, who was my prosecutor, and it will show how I was able to go through my healing journey,” Reese said. “That way people in the community, survivors or victims who haven’t outcried yet, will be able to put a face to the actual people who helped me do it.”
Other new features of the day will include a dedicated space for an expert on teen dating violence and prevention as well as an area solely dedicated to kids’ activities, Reese said.
“On the lower part of the pavilion, we will have a kids’ zone with carnival-type games, like a ring toss, football throw, arts and crafts, face painting, a life-sized Jenga,” he said.
Tiffany Sturman, the chief advancement officer at WCAC, said it made perfect sense for her organization to continue collaborating with the Break the Silence Project.
“Any time we have the ability to work closely, hand in hand, with specific community members and other organizations to destigmatize abuse and help support communities that want to have conversations about how to keep our collective space safe for children, that is a conversation we will be in all day every day,” Sturman said.
For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/5837502106331613.
