BRYANT POND — Making The Connection, a day long conference for individuals who work with families, women and children in Oxford County, is planned for Friday, May 3, at Crosstones Conference Center.

Safe Voices, (Oxford County’s Domestic Violence Resource Center), REACH (Sexual Assault Prevention and Responses covering Oxford County and the Towns of Bridgton and Harrison) and Community Concepts-Family Services Department are hosting the conference and it is being sponsored by the Oxford County Wellness Collaborative with grant funding provided by the Bingham Program.

The focus of the day will be on domestic and sexual violence as well as reproductive coercion. Attendees will have a choice of two breakout sessions that include two options of the program “In Her Shoes/In Their Shoes,” which is designed for learning about domestic violence. Participants in this program will move, act, think and experience the lives of battered women.

“In Her Shoes: Economic Justice” and “In Their Shoes: Teen Dating Violence,” designed for adults working with teens, will both be presented by Safe Voices.

REACH will offer, “She did WHAT? He said WHAT?” which is a training for early childhood educators working with children ages 0 to 5. The goal of the training is to demonstrate a model for responding to sexual behaviors that promote healthy child development and prevent child sexual abuse. The training draws upon the latest research on child sexual abuse prevention to provide new information and strategies about how to increase early education professionals’ skills and confidence in responding proactively to issues of sexual development and sexual abuse.

Conference registration is $10 per person and includes lunch. The conference will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with registration at 8:30 am. Pre-registration is required. Registration forms may be downloaded at www.HealthyOxfordHills.org and are available at the REACH office, 1 E. Main St., South Paris, and Community Concepts, Family Services Department at either 17 Market Square, South Paris, or 172 Main St., Norway, second floor.

Coordination for this event is provided by Healthy Oxford Hills, a Healthy Maine Partnership and a project of Stephens Memorial Hospital. For questions contact Melissa at 207-739-6544 or MWakefield@community-concepts.org or Barb Deschenes 739-6222 or barb@HealthyOxfordHills.org.