Saturday March 7 found me at the wedding of Stephen and Katerina. They met while attending a graduate certificate program at Boston University. Several of their classmates attended their wedding.

Katerina is from Ohrid, Macedonia. Stephen grew up in Peabody, MA. Many of Katerina’s friends from Macedonia attended their wedding. Lively crew–they all danced in long lines holding hands well into the night!

Katerina and her maid of honor, Biljana.

Katerina and Stephen's friend David officiated their wedding through a one-day designation with the state of Massachusetts.

Katerina dances with her guests in a traditional Macedonian dance.

Stephen shares a drink and a laugh with a Macedonian friend.

Biljana, Katerina's maid of honor, reacts while dancing a traditional dance

Katerina spins and dances with her maid of honor, Biljana.

Help give the gift of safety for women and teenage girls and receive something of value in return. Preserve your family history in photographs with location and lifestyle portraiture by Kevin Jacobus. Professional headshots, family, baby, and maternity sessions are available and he will travel to the location of your choosing.

About IMPACT

IMPACT is a unique personal safety and self-defense curriculum that teaches students effective strategies to resist threats, intimidation and violence perpetrated by both strangers and people known to them. Classes are taught by a team of two instructors. One is a coach for the student. The other plays the role of a perpetrator and wears a full suit of body armor so students can safely defend themselves using the same force needed in a real attack.

Classes for Children and Teens

Age-appropriate classes teach children and teens to call attention to threatening situations, distinguish between safe and unsafe adults, physically and verbally protect themselves, and report potential danger to a safe adult.

Teen classes focus on personal safety, boundary-setting in dating relationships, and managing increasing independence.

IMPACT offers age-appropriate programs for elementary, middle, and high school students, including classes specifically for boys, as well as girls’ and co-ed classes. School-based personal safety programs range from 2 to 20 hours, and can be taught during or after the school day.

Building Confidence: Healing from Abuse and Trauma

Nearly half of IMPACT’s students are survivors of abuse and trauma. Instructors create a supportive environment and openly acknowledge the fears and struggles associated with learning self-defense. IMPACT classes give students the experience of being powerful in their bodies, which offers many survivors a unique opportunity for healing.

Success Story

Amanda Hoeg is a graduate of the Project SAFE Internship Program at IMPACT. Amanda did such a wonderful job with her internship that IMPACT hired her for a permanent position. She now works as IMPACT’s Administrative and Enrollment Coordinator, and she and her children recently moved out of the shelter and into an apartment of their own.

“When I was a child, I grew up in a home where there was a lot of domestic violence. I watched my mother be brutally abused by my stepfather every day.

I was in a shelter for about 15 months when the staff came to us and said that we had a class that we had to take called IMPACT. They said that it was this self-defense course and I was so aggravated. I really did not want to take this class at all. I said, “I know how to fight — what can they teach me?” I was so negative about it.

Then after the first two classes I loved it. I did not want it to end. The instructors were great. I felt empowered and felt so good to be me for once in my life. It felt so good to know how much stronger I felt within myself and know that no one can take me down and destroy me as a woman and as a mother.”

For Further Information

Call 603-759-3864 to book a portrait session with Kevin Jacobus Photography for Images with IMPACT by March 31st and mention that you want to have a portion of the proceeds benefit IMPACT.

IMPACT Boston

420 Pearl Street
Malden, MA 02148
781-321-3900
On the web: www.impactboston.com
Blog: http://impactboston.typepad.com/

A runner stopped to let a relative's daughter pet her dog. Fast friends--look at the little girl's reaction to the pooch smooch!

Their friends became legal officiants for the day in order to conduct the ceremony with a personal touch.

I photographed Derek and Alissa’s wedding at the Arnold Arboretum in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston Oct. 11, 2008.  Their reception was held at the College Club of Boston.