Help victims flee domestic violence & restore hope

As the gift that keeps on giving, educating, equipping, empowering and encouraging its clients and community, FSWW celebrated 26 years of excellence with its Royal Empowerment Experience and Gala in conjunction with its Annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) event.

With an evolving organizational focus to foster healthy mindsets and relationships, the Royal Empowerment Experience and Gala was FSWW’s inaugural two-day event elegantly hosted at the Norris Conference Center October 20th & 21^st. 

Friday night’s experience commenced with customized workshops for couples, single women and men all facilitated by a healthy couple and transparent men. The chosen facilitators are committed to changing negative stereotypes and rebuilding families by addressing misnomers, challenging generational and societal norms as well as their willingness to educate the family unit as a whole. Topics of discussion dealt with promoting healthy conversations in households to improve communication between husbands and wives as well as children and parents. Setting relationship goals to ensure all parties involved are on the same page was defined as a best practice. Sharing of empowering moments and life changing stories instrumental in the personal development of the facilitators culminated into an uplifting panel discussion for all.

Saturday’s Red Carpet Black Tie Gala was comprised of live entertainment, a silent auction, all-male fashion show and award ceremony. Award ceremony honored men in our community who have demonstrated a spirit of excellence, integrity, compassion, and financial support in their respective platforms to underwrite many individuals, organizations and businesses in our communities.

Amidst the festivities, in-person survivor success stories ensued much needed awareness to victim trauma. Their testimonies showcased the adversities endured, including a testimony from a male client survivor, along with the resilience they possessed to escape their abusive situations to live a life of safety and wholeness. Support for FSWW’s mission was garnered after the compelling accounts of those who survived and on their journey to recovery.

FSWW also co-hosted the 1st annual “Save Yourself” Self Defense Workshop in conjunction with our community partner, Carolyn Thomas, the founder The Carolyn Thomas Foundation -Voices 4 All. Carolyn is a domestic violence survivor and walking miracle after being shot close range in the face. Carolyn survived the heinous attempted murder leaving her visually impaired and disfigured her face, prompting years of surgeries and prosthetics implants in efforts to reshape her face all from the violent attack of her abuser 20 yrs. ago. Sadly, her mother was murdered during the course of the offense. Her compelling story has aired abroad and was seen on Oprah and many other talk shows. As she continues to use her voice to make the masses aware of the dangers of domestic violence, the success of her “Save Yourself, Self-defense” event was a great addition to her advocacy resume. It offered attendees the opportunity to learn simple and effective techniques that could save their lives and help them escape any attacker.

FSWW’s Annual stats are as follows:

Closing out the 2022-2023 grant year, FSWW provided services to 576 unduplicated clients with over 3400 hours of service. Yearly highlights include 1,499 counseling/therapy hours to 323 clients, case management services consisting of food, clothing, storage rental, relocation assistance, baby and household items, and housing assistance, social services accompaniments plus 135 days of emergency shelter in our Safe Night Hotel Stay Program; 92 legal advocacy clients/court accompaniments and 48 support groups with 321 attendees.

FSWW is eternally grateful for the support received through our GlobalGiving partner, as we acknowledge that our organization would not be able to provide the array of services to our DV/IPV clients and their families without financial support.

Each year, FSWW endeavors to expand our services by acquiring additional funding particularly to address the growing need for emergency housing assistance for domestic violence victims/survivors and their families. FSWW continues to receive an astronomical number of requests for housing, as our clients have escaped abusive situations with no place to go with their children. Due to overcrowded shelters in the Houston-Harris County Metropolitan Area and surrounding counties, we are seeking partnerships with housing developers, builders, housing programs, and other funders to provide our clients with safe housing and a place to build a new life for them and their children. Due to the confidentiality and safety of our clients, photos are limited.

SHOES ANYONE?

Fresh Spirit Wellness For Women, Inc. (FSWW), loves going above and beyond its client service model when the opportunity presents itself. This Mother’s Day, FSWW did just that. Prior to Mother’s Day 2023, the call came in with an amazing donation of 200+ pairs of shoes for women and children. Team FSWW sprang into action to organize its first ever “impromptu pop-up Mother’s Day Shoe Fair.”

The donation consisted of designer brand boots, flats, heels, tennis shoes etc., of many colors and styles. Our long-time community partner, Nikki Jones, CEO of LIPS-Living In Pure Silence, Domestic Violence Organization, joined forces with FSWW offering their location and lunch for our anticipated guests.

With many of our clients freshly removed from their abusive situations, FSWW's Mother's Day Shoe  Fair offered them a gift of acknowledgement and validation most have never received. For those escaping with only the clothes on their backs, this event gave them an opportunity to replace a basic need. For those battling with lack of self-worth and loneliness, the event was a ray of sunshine. Thus, restoration of something perceived as simple to others was able to provide a segue of hope to build on for our clients. The Shoe Fair was a great success and lifted the spirits of all who attended.

STAFF EMPOWERMENT DAY! 

FSWW’s mantra is “Where hurt turns to healing” therefore it is our priority to be conduits of encouragement, education and resources for each client along their recovery journey. To ensure our capacity to provide services that offer a conducive environment of this healing and wholeness, FSWW hosted its “Annual All-day Staff Training.” Training highlighted the history of the organization, its mission, our client service model, policies and procedures and more.

As domestic violence/intimate partner violence (DV/IPV) continues to increase, the empowerment , suitability and the well-being of the boots on the ground is ever more critical. As front line staff is often the first point of contact into seeking DV services, FSWW works diligently to implement best practices in equipping its staff to provide caring and culturally competent services.

Emotionally and mentally, review of FSWW'S mission and history, which was birthed out of Dr. Conte Terrell, Founder & CEO's,  own DV/IPV experience, relays the compassion and understanding needed to effectively assist our clients. Overview and discussion of our client service model in conjunction with our policies and procedures keeps our team abreast of the demands and continuously evolving needs that require enhanced services for each client.

Ultimately, our All-day Staff Training ensures that each FSWW Staff Member is on one accord operating in a spirit of excellence.

FSWW’S QUARTERLY STATS:

167 unduplicated clients receiving 1039 services inclusive of case management services (food, clothing, storage rental, relocation assistance, baby and household items, emergency shelter in our Safe Night Hotel Stay Program, and housing assistance), social services accompaniments, legal advocacy and court accompaniments. 92 crisis counseling/therapy clients receiving 470 hours of counseling and 18 support groups with 83 attendees.

FSWW is eternally grateful for the support received through our GlobalGiving partner, as we acknowledge that our organization would not be able to provide the array of services to our DV/IPV clients and their families without financial support.

This year, FSWW is endeavoring to expand our services by acquiring additional funding particularly to address the growing need for emergency housing assistance for domestic violence victims/survivors and their families. FSWW has received an astronomical number of requests for housing, as our clients have escaped abusive situations with no place to go with their children. Due to overcrowded shelters in the Houston-Harris County Metropolitan Area and surrounding counties, we are seeking partnerships with housing developers, builders, housing programs, and other funders to provide our clients with safe housing and a place to build a new life for them and their children.

Due to the confidentiality and safety of our clients, photos are limited.

Links:

• 26th Anniversary Celebration-October 20-21, 2023