KALAMAZOO
H2O Church Abuse Policy
As a community of disciples, H2O Church is committed to protecting the vulnerable, caring for survivors, and holding abusers accountable. Our commitments come from God, who is a refuge for the abused and never ignores the cry of the abused (Psalm 9:9,12). Our community seeks to make disciples who embody God’s concern for justice and the protection of the vulnerable.
If you have witnessed or experienced any concerning and/or harmful behavior, please let a member of the Safeguarding Team know so we can help provide protection and care. The Safeguarding Team members are:
-
Abby Waynick, Volunteer (313-806-0892, waynicka@umich.edu)
-
Ben Brand, Pastor (734-845-6032, ben.brand@h2okzoo.com)
-
Sara Brand, Staff (734-576-5795, sara.brand@h2okzoo.com)
-
Troy Wallace, Staff (989-859-8778, troy.wallace@h2okzoo.com)
Documents
As part of our commitment to protect the vulnerable and care for survivors, we have policies and a resource/contact document that help us define, discern, and respond to abuse in its various forms.
We invite and encourage everyone at H2O to read a version of the policy and bring any questions to a member of the Safeguarding Team. There are also some instances when we require individuals to read and acknowledge a particular version of the policy in order to participate in certain events or serve in certain capacities.
Here are the three abuse policy versions, along with descriptions for each and when it’s required for an individual to read and acknowledge each document.
-
Abuse Policy - Retreat
The most condensed version of our abuse policy, it contains a basic definition of abuse, descriptions and examples of healthy boundaries, explanations and warnings about typical behaviors of abusers, and the basics on how to report concerns and what will happen when a report is received. Reading and acknowledging this policy is required for retreat and other overnight event participants.
-
Abuse Policy - Condensed
This version of the policy includes the content from the Retreat version, as well as more functions of the Safeguarding Team, more specific response protocols, and information on caring for survivors. Reading and acknowledging this policy is required for destination spring break trip participants.
-
Abuse Policy - Full
Our full policy is the entire abuse policy that we abide by. It includes the content from the Condensed version, as well as definitions of various types of abuse, more functions of the Safeguarding Team, how we screen and train staff and volunteers, more information on caring for survivors, our policy on known sex offenders, and potential indicators of child abuse. Reading and acknowledging this policy is required for H2O staff and volunteers who oversee/shepherd people.
-
Abuse-Related Resources and Contact Information
This document contains resources and contact information for reporting to law enforcement, Michigan DHHS, and universities, as well as free resources for abuse victims, counseling services, H2O pastors and staff, our abuse policy, and ideas for helping survivors.