We hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas! As you begin to look forward to the new year, we pray that you will remember to include Beauty From Ashes in your year-end giving.
Your gift to Beauty From Ashes will sustain our mission to prevent, reach, restore, and advocate for victims of commercialized sexual exploitation and sex trafficking as we move into a new year and season. Thanks to a generous couple that believes in our critical work, your giving of $25 up to $20,000 will be doubled! Your donation will multiply life change abundantly in our community as we fight against human trafficking in Florida and across our nation. To give securely online, CLICK HERE or mail your check to Beauty From Ashes, 13300 S. Cleveland Ave., Ste. 56, Fort Myers, FL 33907-3871.
As I think about 2011, I am simply astounded at what Beauty From Ashes has been able to accomplish. In a time of economic hardship, by the grace of God, Beauty From Ashes has flourished. Since being established in 2005, we have served nearly 1000 clients! This is the second year that we were able to do monthly outreaches into a local strip club where we served home cooked meals and distributed gifts that included not only human trafficking awareness information, but the Word of God. And we were able to distribute over 500 care packages to survivors in safe homes locally and across the nation. We also had the privilege to lead numerous individuals to the Lord and we hired two full time, professionally trained staff. As the year grew to a close, our capacity has continued to increase exponentially with our new formed partnerships with the Salvation Army, United Way, and Lee Physicians Healthcare. Our vision of providing comprehensive and integrated recovery services (medical, mental health, social and spiritual) to survivors has come to pass with our new office location at the North Fort Myers United Way House. Additionally, many volunteers have committed to serving with us on a weekly basis, including college interns. As we move into 2012 we are planning to launch our revised Sex Industry OutREACH & AfterCARE Training at Barry University January 11-13th and again July 26-28th. This revised curriculum is due to the capacity building grant we received from the Department of Health and Human Services and has been written in collaboration with Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). On a personal and professional level, I have completed my 5th semester of being a full time graduate student in Mental Health Counseling at FGCU and became a member of the National Golden Key Honor Society. As I reflect, my heart is filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." Ephesians 3:20 NLT
We also have you, our partners, to thank for giving of your time, talent, and resources for these accomplishments and for what we have to look forward to in 2012! On behalf of the Board, staff, volunteers, and clients of Beauty From Ashes Ministries, we thank you and wish you a very Happy New Year!
Julie Shematz
Founder & Executive Director
Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries
Where Victims Become Over-Comers
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