Jewish Family Services (JFS) received a $200,000 grant over two years from the Tilles Foundation, which is dedicated to finding the most effective and impactful ways to help children in greater St. Louis through innovative charitable investments.  The grant will support JFS’ Child Abuse Prevention Program and its expansion to serve more individuals by adding a staff member and producing new educational tools. 

The grant aims to help the program to reach nearly 52,000 pre-K through fifth grade students annually by 2026.  

For almost 30 years, the abuse prevention program’s trained specialists have worked with more than 150 local schools to teach more than 35,000 children, teachers and parents about body safety, the warning signs of child abuse and safe internet skills.  The program’s goal is to equip local children and adults with the knowledge to reduce or eliminate the risk of child sexual abuse. 

With funding from the Tilles Foundation, JFS expanded the program into middle and high schools and reached an additional 10,000 students each year and hired specialist Bria Liggins.  

Liggins will focus on delivering presentations and programs that teach area adolescents the skills to develop healthy relationships. 

The grant also will be used to create a library of seven proprietary training videos for preschool through eighth grade.  The videos will assist school counselors and social workers to achieve a wider reach and greater impact

“We are truly grateful to the Tilles Foundation for recognizing our long-standing mission to prevent child sexual abuse,” JFS CEO Miriam Seidenfeld stated.  “This generous grant enables our organization to add a much-needed specialist like Bria to our team, as well as to produce videos that will expand our capacity to reach and teach a larger audience.”