Charities You Should Know About

During the journey of service, we meet wonderful individuals who are using their skills to benefit communities. I want to share a few of them, and encourage you to get in touch with these people to see how you can get involved. Most of all, share the information with others; that is the best way to promote someone wonderful--through your trusted recommendation.
_______________________________________________

Brokers For Charity
I found out about this wonderful organization through word of mouth and discovered they are raising funds for charities through commercial and residential real estate transactions. As a referral service, Brokers for Charity refers real estate deals to quality agents and then gives a portion of the referral fee to the charity chosen by the agent. This is a FREE referral service for agents, which means that this is a monetary win-win for everyone.
________________________________________________

Bosom Buddy Bra Recycling
I met this wonderful lady at an E-women Network business luncheon. Her company recycles bras from all over the country. They gather old, used, unused bras and pick out the best ones to donate to women's shelters. The rest get sent to factories out of the country for recycling. The metal and plastic bits are pulled out and melted down; the fabric is made into rags that get reused in various products. A true green company with a huge heart. I have the pleasure of collaborating with them in our upcoming fundraiser: Karma Cups: An Uplifting Affair next month. I hope you will come and bring your unused bras. If you have a nonprofit that needs bras or wants to do fundraising, you must contact Bosom Buddy Bra Recycling.
________________________________________________

Hope for Women Arts
This is an art therapy program started by one of the survivors from Bravery Project, Joyce White. Hope for Women Arts is partnered with Arizona Art Alliance, which provides the art materials for volunteer teachers to teach a art classes in domestic violence shelters. If you are an artist, contact them about doing a volunteer teaching class. It's a great way to give back.
________________________________________________

Purple Ribbon Council
This grassroots, volunteer led organization has several wonderful programs, including the Purple Ribbon Children's Fund for kids who have lost a parent to homicide. They have several fund raising events, such as Girls Night Out, across the US that you can attend to help them raise funds that go toward prevention programs and awareness.
________________________________________________

International

Pixel Project
This is an example of finding a grassroots organization via social media. I met up with these people on Twitter and then Facebook. Their volunteer based group runs across four continents to promote ending violence against women on a global scale. Their goal is to raise US$1 million (or more) for Malaysia's Women's Aid Organisation (http://www.wao.org.my) and the U.S.A.'s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (http://www.ncadv.org) during the biggest global recession ever (according to Alan Greenspan) by taking fund-and-awareness raising into the 21st Century.
_____________________________________________

Bell Bajao
This is another social media networking win. Based out of India and New York, Bell Bajao and Breakthrough are an international human rights group that encourages the public to stand against domestic violence. They use the power of popular culture to send messages that domestic violence is not acceptable. In our Purple Ribbon Study Circles, we discussed the need for a media blitz to get the message out to as many people as possible...this organization can provide an example of just that.

Upcoming Events

We have some upcoming events that might be of interest. You can even participate from out of state! Instead of just asking for a donation to keep us alive during this tough economy, we are offering you something wonderful in return for your support.
_______________________________________

September 26th 4-8pm
Karma Cups: An Uplifting Affair
Featuring the Bra-Vogue Contest and Fashion Show
This kid-friendly event is a collaboration between Bravery Project, NATN, and Bosom Buddy Bra Recycling. Donate a bra and get 50% off your ticket. Decorate a bra and send in for the $200 1st place price. The best bras will be modeled in the fashion show. We are still accepting sponsors for this event. Tickets and information can be viewed online!

Funds from this event, will help keep our organizations running.

Need some bra ideas?




______________________________________________

November 9th 6-9:30pm
Evening of the Arts
Join us with Fix the Hurt Performing Arts Group at Broadway Palm Dinner Theater for an elegant evening of fine art exhibit, silent auction, live music by Lisa Addeo, dinner and theater performance. Information with tickets and sponsorship can be viewed and purchased online.

Funds from this event will go to Bravery Scholarship program to send 3 survivors to college and to create a new teen dating violence musical that is already in demand in Arizona High Schools.



________________________________________________

June 6-13
Bravery Project Cruise
Want to take an amazing vacation to some of the most beautiful places on earth? Princess Cruises is donating a portion of the proceeds from a 7 day Caribbean cruise to Bravery Project. The more people come, the larger the donation. I will be presenting Bravery Project and producing an art piece for sale right on the ship. Contact Polly Waln at 480-753-6671.

This cruise is on sale with a deposit reduction during the month of August!

Some of the funds from this experience will pay for an invitation to Kolkata, India to produce art for New Light shelter in the heart of the Red Light District. With your help, Bravery Project can span across international borders.

Culture vs Compassion

I want to share this article from the Arizona Republic with you because it is a good example of behavior that is excused by culture. When we learn about behavior or abuse in another country, it makes us feel uncomfortable, but becomes easy to dismiss as "their cultural." (i.e. female genital mutilation) Therein lies the perennial questions about moral subjectivism, and yet we can say that WE would never do such a thing. Why is that? Perhaps because as an ever evolving human race, our cultural pocket in this world is one that constantly corrects itself through strong voices and actions of people, like Peggy Bilsten, who know that culture makes no difference. Abuse is abuse is abuse. In the case of this little girl's parents, I'll never understand how cultural belief can supercede the protection and love for their own a child.

Support offered for 8-year-old victim of sex assault

Families want to adopt girl, 8, make donations

by Michael Ferraresi - Jul. 25, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Peggy Bilsten returned home from a month-long humanitarian trip to help rape victims in Africa to learn of a similar victim in Phoenix. Like the victims she met in Africa, this one "survived hell," she said.

The former Phoenix city councilwoman offered to adopt the 8-year-old Liberian refugee who police said was held down and raped by a group of neighborhood boys at a Maryvale apartment complex.

The victim landed in the care of Arizona Child Protective Services after her father made statements to authorities that he no longer wanted her in the home because she brought shame to the family. The story triggered an outpouring of support from families willing to adopt the girl, help her recover or simply to donate clothing and toys to ease her transition into foster care.

The attack also prompted the president of war-torn Liberia to issue a statement Friday about the Phoenix case, stating that the country was trying to mend its issues with sexual violence.

Bilsten traveled last month to Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo with the Christian missionary group Mending the Soul.

"It's important we don't excuse this as culture," she said. "This was the result of evil, not culture."

The four boys - ages 14, 13, 10 and 9 - face criminal charges in connection to the July 16 incident in which police said they lured the girl into a shed with chewing gum, held her down, and raped her.

Citing department policy, CPS officials declined to answer questions about the victim, although they said the girl was safely recovering in foster care.

The agency is conducting its own investigation, working with the victim's family to determine whether their home could eventually be deemed safe. Officials said each CPS case is treated on an individual basis.

Steven Tuopeh, 14, will be prosecuted as an adult on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Prosecutors have two weeks to decide to petition Maricopa County Superior Court to transfer any of the boys' juvenile cases to adult court.

Officers arrested the boys at their homes Tuesday, five days after neighbors at the west Phoenix apartment complex called police after the girl ran screaming and partially clothed from the shed where the attack occurred.

Investigators said the boys held the girl down inside the shed and took turns sexually assaulting her for nearly 15 minutes.

Police said the victim knew her attackers, but they were not sure how long the families lived in the complex or how long it had been since they fled Liberia. Three of the boys lived with their families at the complex.

Investigators were unclear on the suspects' personal backgrounds, based on their refugee status.

Detectives focused on the July 16 incident during interviews with the boys, police Sgt. Andy Hill said. They conducted the interviews with their families' consent.

Hill added that the boys' experiences in Liberia never came up in interviews.

"Nothing in the interviews really (brought up) anything from the past," he said. "You need to be careful in your interviews (with child suspects). You can't try to lead or coerce or anything."

Hill said the emotional outpouring from the public was the most significant for a child victim he has seen in nearly 25 years.

Abuse Is Not An Event; It's A Process.

It's not often that we get lucky enough to have someone in a power position take notice and become active in the domestic abuse movement. Fortunately, we have an advocate for proactive change in Judge Toler.

You may have seen her on Divorce Court, one of the most successful real-life drama television shows on KSAZ (Phoenix, AZ). She has worked with thousands of cases in domestic violence, stalking, assault, and stalking. After seeing her speak at the Women's Luncheon at the George Washington Carver Museum in June, it was easy to see why her show is so successful. Not only is she beautiful, she is funny, intelligent and really cares about working towards stemming the flow of violence and abuse rather than reacting to it.

Several key points from her speech were surprising, even to me. One may think that a DV case even making it to court is a win because it's rare and the abuser may finally have to be accountable for his/her actions; however, according to Judge Toler, "it's little too late." In a culture that pulls off a few leaves on issues rather than hacking at the roots of the trees, she understands from experience that abuse is a community problem and it develops as a process rather than just an event.

My previous post on Why Domestic Violence: if not you, then who? demonstrates more graphically the same message. People don't go into a relationship thinking or knowing they will be abused, but they still have to take responsibility for that first step to get out. That initial step is what frustrates people. Why doesn't she leave being the most common question, but they don't realize that leaving is the most dangerous time for a victim and usually the very act happening when we read about a homicide/murder/suicide case in the newspapers. A key to prevention of these media stories repeating themselves is that a "community provides a means of exit that is safe," according to Toler. Again we go back to awareness, education, then action.

Anyone can become an advocate in very small ways by first learning more about the issue of abuse, especially if one knows a person in the situation. Then by giving her a phone number for help and telling her that she deserves better. Keep this number with you in your wallet or purse and present it when she is alone. Most of all listen to her and don't judge. You will be amazed at how this small and free gesture could save her life and many others after her. You can be a hero.


Domestic Violence: if not you, then who?
Divorce Court
Toler on NPR

Why Domestic Violence--If not you then who?

A person close to me asked why choose domestic violence as the platform for the art I create and the charity work I promote with Bravery Project. Her understanding was that there are many causes out there which are just as important, such as serious health issues. Producing art will not stop some jerk from beating on this wife...she still made choices. Those with health issues, like cancer and congenital deformities, did not choose their fate. After a deep breath, this inquiry became an important opportunity to teach.

There have been individuals who have asked for art to help other causes via Bravery Project, and it was seriously considered. Although there are many important causes in our communities, let alone the world, domestic abuse is one such cause that produces some very interesting challenges. We are talking about human nature and an omnipresent social disease that is highly misunderstood, misrepresented, and underserved.

To be clear, Bravery Project, is about education and awareness of WHAT, WHO, and HOW domestic abuse happens. We can't force abusers to stop abusing and victims to leave, but we can encourage people to think differently about this issue. Instead of seeing the abuse as a private problem and acceptable in some cases, we prove time and again that it's a common and expensive community issue. The vast numbers of survivors who have shared their stories (portrait or not) prove that ignorance prevails. When people see the faces and read the stories from the survivor's own words, they learn something new. What they learn encourages them to have open discussion, listen to someone in need, provide a number for a victim, step in when they see that child being hit by a parent, report negligence at a nursing home. In otherwords, have compassion and take action.

In the past 11 days, 8 domestic violence deaths have been reported just in Maricopa County--two of them were children. Were they preventable? Possibly. Suppose the neighbors heard or suspected something and reported possible child abuse....would those children still be alive? What if a friend or acquaintance, gave the woman a number to call and told her she deserves better, would she still be alive?

If people shake their heads at a victim and think she made the choice to marry him, they must expect that she saw the signs and consciously decided, "Hey, in about two years, this guy will break my ribs, scar my face, and put me into the hospital...I think I will marry him and have his children so he can use and abuse them too." Obviously, we know this isn't reality, but turning our backs on victims as "they asked for it...they choose it" is saying exactly that.

Taking out personal responsibility from the health realm is dubious at best. Although scientists have detected a breast cancer gene, that doesn't excuse a person's lifestyle from encouraging the cancer to develop. The best way to reduce cancer incidences is to educate the population about good lifestyle habits. This is no different when it comes to domestic violence and abuse. People must be educated on what it means and what to do, whether it's to get help or to help someone else. We understand that she couldn't possibly know he will cause her to miscarriage in 12 months because he will beat her belly...any more than we can expect the neighbors who hear his rage and her cries to know the best way to handle a "domestic disturbance." We must allieviate this fear of stepping out and sharing stories and stepping out to help another through education. The Bravery Project way is to give a voice to survivors so THEY can teach from their own experiences.

This is just one of the things that Bravery Project does and with collaboration in the community, we will do together.