We are humbled and honored to have been selected. We appreciate the generosity of the 100+ Women Who Care in Erie County group more than words can express!
It has taken me a few days to be able to find the most appropriate and meaningful words to express the immense amount of gratitude in my heart for the generosity of 100+ Women Who Care in Erie County, Ohio for selecting our nonprofit Seeds of Empowerment during their Thursday meeting.
None of this would have been possible without the belief, support and encouragement of my dear friend and nurse colleague Elizabeth Moots.
Let me first say that Elizabeth and I met initially during her time student teaching at Firelands School of Nursing. It was during that time; she lectured my class and was with me during my ICU clinical. Beyond that we continued connecting through the friendship she and her family had with my husband and over time she came to see me as more than a former student, more than a nurse, but a colleague and most importantly, a supportive friend, she listened to my passion, my life’s work and personal devotion, as well as unending sacrifice to bring awareness and education on the issue of healthcare & human trafficking. Inviting me year after year to be a guest lecturer for her nursing program at Sandusky Career Center & now for her community program Leadership Erie County.
Elizabeth watched my education grow and evolve into something both life and now more importantly, community changing. She did this all by listening, supporting, respecting and valuing my experience, knowledge, research & work.
Over the years my healthcare focused efforts grew to include the meaningful criminal justice work of another respected colleague & friend, Tracy McGinley, who Elizabeth has also supported, uplifted and valued by attending with her colleagues, our Bowling Green State University Labor Trafficking Education and Research Initiative events.
These events we host encompass meaningful, evidence-based, survivor-informed education on the topics of both labor and sex trafficking.
Most recently, Elizabeth, alongside Christine Stark gave us the green light to use their facility to host a prom-themed event for survivors and allies that took almost two years of planning to come to fruition. In fact, their entire program, faculty and staff has supported our anti-trafficking work in numerous ways for years, in ways that we could never begin to repay.
The immense amount of support, encouragement, belief and friendship Elizabeth has shown me as both a fellow colleague and nurse knows no limits.
So, you can only imagine what it was like when she called to inform me on Thursday evening that she presented on behalf of our nonprofit at the 100+ Women Who Care in Erie County, Ohio and that we were selected. The moment I found out, I fell to my knees crying amongst a number of people at a public event. No exaggeration.
Our nonprofit provides us no salary, the majority of this work that we do is volunteer and the money that we do generate from donations always finds it way back to survivors or to community-based education and projects aimed at the prevention, identification of human trafficking and empowerment of both survivors and allies.
There will never be enough words from the bottom of my heart to thank Elizabeth for the support she has shown me from the start of my nursing career until now, the support she has shown Tracy, all of our board members, as well as the allies and survivors we are affiliated with. There will never be enough words of gratitude to the 100+ Women of Erie County for learning of our mission, for caring about this critically important work and for helping a very small nonprofit that has been running mostly on compassion, commitment and unwavering dedication to create meaningful change, not only in our community, but also in the lives of all of those we educate and serve.