SERVING CALIFORNIA NEWS
JUNE 2018 ISSUE
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Serving California wishes a heartfelt Happy Father’s Day to all the tremendous dads out there. I especially want to highlight and give a shout out to former and current military fathers who often must go through long stretches of separation from their families while they serve and train. We appreciate you all.
I am excited for you to learn more this month about two outstanding organizations that are having a huge impact in the lives of women coming out of prison and human trafficking. A New Way of Life and Freedom House stand as beacons in Southern and Northern California for what can be done to make a difference in people’s lives and in our communities. We are honored to be partnered with and support such important missions.
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A big thank you to Jon Lowry and Serving California for the opportunity and access to such an experience. Two of our staff members were able to take a road trip to Centinela State Prison in Imperial, CA to play softball with the inmates. Laura Suk (Executive Director) and Sarah Howard (Administration/Area Coordinator) represented our NorthEast of the Well "athletes", and the experience was eye-opening, educational and encouraging for both.
A large majority of the population we serve at NorthEast comes out of incarceration, and it was so valuable to have this up-close and personal experience. We were reminded again that ministry comes in all forms, and we're thankful for this one! Click here to read about the experience directly from Laura and Sarah.
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On May 19th, Serving California’s partner Treasures, whose work includes restoring the lives of women in the sex industry and victims of sex trafficking, held their 8th Annual Gala fundraising event at The Westin Pasadena. Entrepreneur Nick Cokas emceed the charitable evening, alongside Treasure’s founder Harmony Dust Grillo, which also featured psychologist and New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Henry Cloud, as the keynote speaker.
Harmony has recently released a 2nd edition of her powerful memoir, Scars & Stilettos. For more information, visit www.iamatreasure.com.
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Saint John’s 2nd Annual Polo for Change was hosted at Chamberlain Ranch in Wilton where over 900 people came together for an amazing, fun-filled event, featuring delicious food catered by Plates Café and Catering, a fabulous silent auction, ring toss, the Hanson McClain VIP Tent, live music by Darbytown, spectacular performances by the California Cowgirls, Five Bar Challenge presented by the Sacramento International Horse Show, a fabulous hat competition, a dapper gentleman's contest, live music, and a Champagne Divot Stomp!
Thanks to generous sponsors, donors, volunteers, and a FABULOUS committee, $340,000 was raised to benefit women and children who are working hard to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness once and for all!
Click here for more photos and information on this wonderful event.
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Finding Hope in A New Way of Life
After returning home from her sixth term in prison for drug possession, Susan Burton was done, exhausted with the revolving door of incarceration and disappointed in the way her life had turned out. A friend steered her toward the CLARE Foundation, a substance abuse treatment center in Santa Monica. There, in that affluent oceanside city, Susan found the resources and help she’d never had access to growing up in South LA. After a childhood filled with abuse, Susan’s world completely disintegrated when her five-year-old son was run over and killed. Not knowing where to turn or how to manage her grief, Susan self-medicated and spiraled into addiction.
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In 1996, when she entered treatment at CLARE, Susan began the process of turning her life around. But she wasn’t content with just helping herself; she understood that there were hundreds of thousands of women just like her who needed a safe, sober place to live after leaving prison. Susan saved up money from her job as a carer and in 1998, she bought a three-bedroom house in the South LA neighborhood of Watts. A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project (ANWOL) was born.
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Over the past 20 years, ANWOL has blossomed. The organization now has five safe houses — which have served more than 1,000 women and children in total — and employs 24 people, including several women who started out as residents of the program. ANWOL provides re-entry services for less than one-third of the cost of incarceration, and in 2017, more than 80 percent of the women in the program were able to meet benchmarks identified as crucial to making a successful community re-entry.
But Susan realized that she had to go further than safe housing. Mass incarceration is a systemic national issue, with 2.2 million people behind bars — the vast majority of whom will eventually return to society. ANWOL employed a team of lawyers to help people clean up their records and break down institutional barriers standing in the way of occupational licensing; in 2017, more than 300 clients were served by ANWOL’s twice-monthly community legal clinics. Susan also co-founded a national group called All of Us or None as a way for formerly incarcerated people and their families to get involved in the fight for criminal justice reform at the state and local levels. And ANWOL’s policy department creates and sponsors state legislation around issues such as bail reform and the reinstatement of jury service for formerly incarcerated people.
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Selena's Story
Rather than focusing strictly on the mistakes residents have made and how they can change their behavior, A New Way of Life fosters an environment that helps women understand and heal from the root causes of that behavior, which typically include abuse, poverty, racism, abandonment, and/or mental health issues. This approach results in many success stories, including Selena’s.
Selena came to A New Way of Life in 2017. Now 22 years old, she had begun the cycle of incarceration two years prior. After her most recent jail sentence, she bounced from place to place, unable to find a stable living environment. She eventually landed at ANWOL upon the advice of her alcohol counselor. There, Selena quickly became involved in another one of Susan’s initiatives, Women Organizing for Justice and Opportunity (WOJO), a leadership program that turns formerly incarcerated women into community organizers. The program helped Selena find her voice and turn her life around: this spring, she was one of two women in the program chosen to take on a paid internship at ANWOL, she regained custody of her five-year-old son, and she graduated with her GED. She now wants to go to school to become a drug and alcohol counselor. “I am so proud of Selena,” Susan wrote on the day Selena graduated from Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center. “When she first came to A New Way of Life she had no dreams or hope for her life. Since being here she has become a WOJO Leader, got her son back and has graduated from high school. So much promise for her life in front of her.”
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Freedom House
In 2009, Jaida Im, Freedom House founder and executive director, was awakened to the cruel fact that modern-day slavery existed in her own backyard, with the San Francisco Bay Area being a major hub. She soon discovered that human-trafficking survivors had nowhere to turn after escaping or being rescued from their oppressors. Shelter options existed for rape and domestic violence victims, but nothing focused on the particular needs of survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and labor trafficking, who needed time to heal from the physical and psychological trauma they had endured.
Following divine inspiration, Jaida relied on her strong Christian faith to find a solution to the problem. She formed TWBD, Inc. (Thy Will Be Done), dba Freedom House, with a mission to bring hope, restore human dignity, and build a new life for human-trafficking survivors.
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Jaida developed a pioneering aftercare model that offered transitional housing, mental-health counseling, educational opportunities, career planning, unconditional love and support. In 2010, Freedom House opened The Monarch shelter, the first “safe house” and long-term program of its kind in Northern California, where adult female survivors may receive wraparound services for up to 18 months. It aids both foreign-born survivors who are trafficked into the country as well as U.S.-born women.
The Monarch, an eight-bed shelter located in San Mateo County, houses 16-18 women each year, with the average length of stay being 10 months. The Freedom House staff and trained, trauma-informed Shelter Volunteers diligently work to meet a survivor’s immediate needs: food, clothing, housing and transportation, while providing comprehensive case management to create an individual care plan. It’s a holistic approach, offering medical, psychological, legal aid and social services.
In addition, Freedom House provides telephone counseling to non-resident survivors, offering guidance, safety planning, and referrals to those who seek advice about available services in their region.
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Many people think the act of rescuing a victim, placing her in a safe environment and offering her educational and job training resources free-of-charge would be enough to transform a life and create a new beginning. In reality, the majority of survivors have mental health challenges, which often need to be addressed before the survivor can move forward on a path toward independence and self-sufficiency. The goal is to break the cycle of abuse through therapeutic counseling and educational opportunities -- key elements for a successful outcome.
Program participants are encouraged to develop and pursue their own personal goals for a brighter future. While at The Monarch, it may be the first time someone genuinely has asked a survivor: What do you want to do with your life? What would you like to study? The women attend community college and enroll in vocational training programs of their choosing, with Freedom House paying tuition fees and covering school supplies and transportation costs. Once given the opportunity to thrive, it is not uncommon for survivors to excel in their studies, even making the Dean’s List.
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Freedom House also serves as a voice for survivors through its advocacy platform, which educates the public about human-trafficking issues and how survivors need housing and direct services. Trained Advocate Volunteers participate in more than 75 events each year, reaching thousands of community members through speaking engagements, public forums and information tables.
On April 27, 2019, the Freedom House 10th Annual Gala, being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City, will be a celebratory occasion for supporters and newcomers alike to hear personal testimonies by human-trafficking survivors and learn more about the modern-abolitionist movement. For more information about Freedom House and upcoming events, please visit www.FreedomHouseSF.org or send an email to Info@FreedomHouseSF.org.
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