STRIP CLUB OUTREACH: Saturday, January 8th from 7-midnight, the BFA outREACH team will again be serving a home cooked meal and distributing outREACH gifts inside the locker room of a local "adopted" strip club. In 2010 we were able to do this outreach monthly and accomplished our goal of establishing relationships that would be extended beyond the club settings. We currently have numerous ladies attending church and coming to our weekly Breaking Free Support & Life Skills Group.
BREAKING FREE LIFE SKILLS & SUPPORT GROUP for former and current sex workers will resume meeting on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at Barry University on January 5th. Free lunch and complimentary child care provided. Registration required. Contact Julie Shematz at julie@beautyfromashes.org or call 239-939-9218 to register.
YEAR END REVIEW: 2010 has been a year that ended up being exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond what we ever dreamed or imagined and we want to thank YOU, our partners for this! Some of the highlights and milestones were the monthly concentrated outREACHES that included serving yummy meals to employees of a local 'adopted' strip club. Partnering with RealOrange, we had our outREACH efforts extended to having a booth inside the East Coast's largest porn expo in Miami and we launched our publicly acclaimed, trend setting, new website. Barry University became the home of BFA and we were awarded our first grant, a capacity building grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS). We extended our partnerships with safe homes and programs locally and nationally, developed more community partnerships than ever before and gave Human Trafficking awareness presentations in venues that included universities, public and social service agencies, businesses, social clubs, and churches. Additionally, we were able to provide continued education credits (CEUs) for a 70 minute, multi-media presentation for healthcare workers. BFA was announced as the official liaison for domestic sex trafficking with the Lee County Health Department and I miraculously completed my second semester as a full time graduate student studying mental health counseling with a 4.0 GPA! We distributed hundreds of outREACH gifts and care packages locally and across the nation, that included bibles, inspirational CDs, DVDs, books, and lavish makeup and body care items. We provided and facilitated intervention and recovery services to more domestic and international survivors than ever before and worked with task forces, coalitions, psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed counselors, service agencies and local and national law enforcement entities to provide and advocate for victim's rights to a comprehensive, continuum of care. Most importantly, numerous names were added to the Lamb's book of life, countless individuals were inspired that they are loved, valued, more than over-comers, and captives were set free to be all that God destined and planned for them to be!
I had the privilege of staying at one of the safehomes this week and cannot think of a better way to end the year. As I watched the women, teens, and staff open their Christmas gifts from BFA, the expressions of joy and excitement on their faces touched my heart deeply. Hearing the survivor's stories, seeing the progress they have accomplished, recognizing eyes that were once dark with hopelessness were now filled with hope reminded me that THEY ARE WHY WE ARE DOING WHAT WE ARE DOING. My heart filled with gratefulness to God and for those that have embraced the mission of BFA: To reach, rescue and restore victims of commercialized sexual exploitation (CSE) and sex trafficking. THANK YOU! Together we have seen 2010 be the best year ever for BFA and we are making a difference. Lives are being transformed from ashes to beauty. Two words describe 2010: "Building Momentum" and we have great expectations for 2011.
2011 PLANS: For starters, I have accepted the invitation to be on the planning committee of the National Preventing Abuse Conference and to be a keynote speaker for Women at Risk International's 5 day cruise/"FriendRaiser". Since 2005 we have been presenting national training conferences locally and across the nation sharing our unique model's of outREACH and in 2011 we be launching our new curriculum that will include training modules for domestic human trafficking awareness, outREACH, mentoring/aftercare, community engagement, program development, and a force multiplier model, thanks to the federal grant we received. Teaming with another lead social service and human trafficking agency, we are already writing for another capacity building grant and are coordinating with more organizations to reach, rescue and restore CSE and sex trafficking victims. BFA will also be expanding and saturating our outREACHes into the 7 county region of Southern region of Florida and will begin doing our first international outREACHes in 2011. We absolutely know that the BEST is yet to come! Read more BFA Milestones, CLICK HERE
On behalf of myself, the executive board, staff, and volunteers at Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries, THANK YOU for your partnership with us in 2010. Together we are better and we have made a difference! Please consider giving an end of the year, tax deductible contribution to assist us in continuing momentum as we go into the year 2011. To give, CLICK HERE
theCALL2XXX: Join us weekly, locally and globally for prayer to abolish slavery and for the organizations reaching, rescuing, restoring and advocating for the victims. Fridays 8-9am EST. For more information and prayer guide: CLICK HERE To meet with team locally, contact
PRAYER REQUESTS: We care for you and have a team that prays over your every need. Please send them to prayer@beautyfromashes.org
For the LATEST NEWS REGARDING DOMESTIC SEX TRAFFICKING, visit our home page: http://www.beautyfromashes.org
BFA E-NEWSLETTER SIGN UP: CLICK HERE
Know that we love you, pray for you and are very grateful for your support and encouragement. God bless you and yours and have a Happy New Year!
In His love and service,
Julie Shematz
CEO & Founder
Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries
Where Victims Become Over-Comers
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