5th annual Rock the Resilience event focuses on ACEs

PALMER — The 5th annual Rock the Resilience community event focused on Adverse Childhood Childhood Experiences, commonly shortened to ACEs this year.

This year’s event was titled “Rock the Resilience Vol. 5: CARE” with the accompanying tagline, “We cannot gamble with ACEs.”

Rock the Resilience is an annual event hosted by No More Mat-Su that’s dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault in the Mat-Su Valley by building youth resilience for an overall safer and more informed community.

The Glenn Massay Theater donated its venue to No More Mat-Su to hold a full, live event that was free to attend.

No More Mat-Su utilized the expertise of 13 community resource agencies along with visual and performing arts to encourage community members to get invested in the next generation of Valley residents by getting involved to end domestic violence and sexual assault.

No More Mat-Su spent the past year engaging in various education projects centered around ACEs to share important protective factors and resiliency strategies during the 2022 Rock the Resilience event.

Various speakers representing partnering groups and organizations shared their experiences and insights during the live presentation portion of the evening. Thrive Mat-Su Youth Programs Coordinator Matt Clayton was one of several guest speakers that presented this year. Clayton said that he was encouraged by the overall growth of this community event. He said this event helps raise awareness for No More Mat-Su’s overall mission.

“I am very supportive of this event because of the very high rates of sexual abuse in the Valley. This is a very essential message to get across to young people,” Clayton said.

Each year, students from across the Mat-Su School District participate through various means including speaker presentations, music, and art submissions. Visitors were able to view student art projects that centered around this year’s theme as they browsed booths run by participating partners like R.O.C.K. Mat-Su, Alaska Family Services, and The Children’s Place.

CCS Early Learning was recognized for its efforts in offering trauma-informed care at its various locations. Executive Director Mark Lackey said that supporting families with ACEs and preventing trauma from happening in the first place is one of their primary goals as an organization.

“Really, that’s the basis of all of our work. Once they happen they can’t un-happen. Those things can’t be undone,” Lackey said. “It was a really great event. The entire message of the event was don’t let anybody feel alone. I think the more community awareness that we have the better.”

For more information about No More Mat-Su, visit facebook.com/NoMoreMatSu or email nomorematsuak@gmail.com.