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Although April — Child Abuse Prevention Month — has come to a close for the year, it is never out of season to be proactive about the well-being of children.

One way to prevent child abuse is to make sure parents have the resources and support they need to raise their children in a nurturing and safe home. One organization in the area has dedicated its time to doing just that.

The Exchange Club Center for Family Unity in Owatonna is a nonprofit that provides in-home mentoring to parents who can use additional support to be successful parents, says the organization’s website.

Beth Hortop is the executive director of the Exchange Club Center for Family Unity. She has been in the role for about three years and was on the board four years prior to becoming the director. Her work focuses on increasing public awareness about the organization, she said. She focuses on outreach to the community.

Hortop said the Exchange Club Center for Family Unity is a branch of the National Exchange Club, which was established in 1981 to spread awareness and aid in the prevention of child abuse.

The Exchange Club Center for Family Unity’s coverage area encompasses Freeborn, Rice, Waseca, Dodge and Steele counties, but Hortop said this year they helped people in 17 counties in three different states.

In addition to the parent mentoring program, the center also provides supervised parent-child visits for circumstances like a court order or a divorce with allegations of abuse. It also does safe exchanges for child custody changes.

The program is very impactful to the families they serve, Hortop said. The trajectory of the program is not to “train” children or parents, she said. Rather, it is designed to support families and help parents come to solutions by asking thoughtful questions.

Some of the key components for the program are open communication, increased self care skills and strategies for reducing stress and conflict resolution.

Hortop said parents in the mentoring program are encouraged to come up with long-term and short-term goals to improve their lives and the lives of their children. This could mean helping their children do better in school, becoming better listeners or getting into a better job or living situation.

Sometimes, Hortop said, a parent is reassured after learning more about their child’s development or learning that many parents face the same issues they do.

Once you peel back the layers of why a parent wants help, she said, you can start connecting them with resources and tools they need to achieve their goals.

The Exchange Club Center for Family Unity tries to be proactive about the prevention of child abuse rather than reactive after abuse has already taken place, Hortop said.

“There are so many cases reported every year,” she said.

She also wants people to know that they do not need to feel ashamed to ask for help. The program, she said, is not deciding whether someone is a good parent, but rather finding solutions to help parents and children find the resources they need to be successful.

“There’s such a need for this out there,” she said.

Hortop said the Exchange Club Center for Family Unity is always looking for people to support what they are doing. People can learn more by going to centerforfamilyunitymn.org, sending an email to eccfudirector@gmail.com, checking out the organization’s Facebook page or by calling 507-455-1190.