ENCINITAS — Ahead of its 15th annual skateboarding event for women, girls and nonbinary individuals, Exposure Skate has partnered with the Community Resource Center for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October to raise awareness about healthy relationships and available resources.
Exposure has a long history of supporting similar causes and has raised $304,000 for survivors of domestic violence since its founding, according to a news release.
Jess Robledo, programs director at Exposure Skate and a survivor of domestic violence, told The Coast News that she sees many similarities between the work of CRC and Exposure.
“It’s kind of like skateboarding,” Robledo said. “You get an individual – a kid – that’s learning how to skate, they’re going to fall and you have to meet them where they’re at so that you can build them back up and give them the empowerment they need to get back on the board because the progression comes through the trying and the falling and the getting back up. I think that that translates in the sense of what they’re doing at the CRC with providing these real time resources.”
Robledo added that teaching healthy boundaries is an important part of the effort, noting that it is difficult to know what someone may be experiencing at home.
“And so we’re just hoping that through providing a positive space to connect on these things, they’re able to maybe take resources back home,” Robledo said.
Exposure has donated $88,000 to CRC since 2013 to support programs that assist people experiencing domestic violence, according to the release.
Robledo said a central goal of Exposure is to use skateboarding to teach life skills that extend beyond the skate park, including the value of a supportive community and understanding when and how to ask for help.
She said the partnership aligns with Exposure’s mission of “empowering women and girls through skateboarding and teaching compassion through service.”
John Van Cleef, CEO of the Community Resource Center, told The Coast News that he felt “really fortunate” to partner with Exposure to teach these skills to young women.
“We are engaged in prevention education throughout the area,” Van Cleef said. “By working with these young women at this age and really focusing on positive life skills and teaching about healthy relationships, not just in terms of dating, but also just in terms of life. And so by creating an environment where people are empowered [to make] choices in their life, it’s this opportunity to learn, and experience that firsthand in a community setting.”
Van Cleef added that domestic violence affects people across all socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including both men and women.
“It’s a pervasive issue,” Van Cleef said. “And so addressing it as a community is the best thing to do.”
