Fall 2019, Edition 16
Letter from the President
Dearest ARM of Care team;
You are all the colors, shapes and images on our blank canvases. Your canary yellows, deep blues, sea greens, earthy browns and pastel pinks are what we need to encourage, inspire and activate the creativity in those who have been commercially sexually exploited and those at risk for exploitation. Thank you for giving so much of yourselves so that others can create on their own blank canvases.
The restoration work we do is also valuable for prevention. Many of the self-care tools our participants integrate into their own lives keep them from being trafficked again in the future. ARM of Care not only provides services throughout Northern California, but also we are a part of Contra Costa County’s Task Force for Human Trafficking. We want you to know that the county is working hard to address the issue of Human Trafficking. In this county there are at least 22 cities, all in need of programs to address both prevention and restoration. If you are receiving this newsletter and live in another county or out of state, feel free to check out the local resources in your community serving those who have been trafficked.
Walking in downtown Walnut Creek a few weeks ago on a Saturday morning, I reported to the police a situation where I suspected a girl being trafficked. She looked lost and disheveled. I asked if she was ok and she told me about a man who dropped her off. I asked if she had a phone and she said no. I asked if she knew where she was and she said Concord, even though she was in Walnut Creek. As she was looking around, she told me she saw the man’s car and a few moments later I saw this man walking to get her and then took her back to his car. I was able to report his license plate number to the police. I want to please ask you to report anything like this that you may see no matter where you live.
Please check out Contra Costa County’s Coalition to End Abuse’s website to learn the signs so that you can recognize and report activity that you suspect may be human trafficking. https://www.contracostacoalition.org/learn-the-signs
You can also put in your phone the National Human Trafficking Hotline which is 1-888-373-7888.
Many of you who were able to come to our 7th Annual Reach to Restore fundraiser got to hear from our featured speaker, Lisa Whitehouse, who shared about her horrific experiences of being commercially sexually exploited. She shared ways she has learned and continues to learn to take care of herself which include discovering her own interests and creativity. Thank you to all who attended, showering her and those ARM of Care serves with so much love and care. Hats off to all who participated in some way for our Reach to Restore Fundraiser on September 8, 2019. Thank you for donating over $30,000 to enable us to keep “reaching to restore”.
You are the hope that brings all kinds of artistic, movement and recreational expression to a population that needs to know how valuable they are.
On behalf of ARM of Care’s Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, agencies and youth and women we serve, THANK YOU!
Amy
Upcoming Event:
Please join us for our 10th Annual Pilates for a Purpose. We encourage you to invite your friends and come out for a fun morning filled with great exercise, an opportunity to help a great cause and a chance to win a great raffle prize. Mark your calendars for Saturday, December 7th at 9:00-10:30 a.m. at Sports Basement in Walnut Creek. Please RSVP to info@ARMofCare.net by 12/3.
Art, Recreation and Movement
A simple walk on a foggy afternoon was just what the girls needed. One girl photographed flowers along the way. She wrote in her evaluation that the walk “reconnected my body to myself. It was great.”
In this art and movement session on learning how to say no with our bodies, our minds and our voices, one girl felt empowered to declare that “I can say no.”
Angie Kavert, our new Director of Administration and Outreach, and Lisa Whitehouse, the speaker at our fundraiser, on a recreational outing with one of the agencies to a Giants game! After the game Brandon Belt threw us a ball from the dugout that one of the girls got to take home with her!
Participating in a community drawing on body maps- one to express how it feels inside when they are struggling and the other when they are feeling good.
Many Thanks to Lise Bodine!
We want to thank our previous Director of Administration, Lise Bodine, for her devoted years of service to ARM of Care. Lise came to us in January of 2014 from the corporate world and brought her professionalism and team building personality to aid us in every area of ARM of Care’s work. Her attention to detail and business wisdom continue to help us! Her love for being part of a nonprofit agency continues as she is now the Director of Administration for Meals on Wheels. Thank you Lise for being a modern day abolitionist! (photo of her and her husband Hans at a charity event to support Human Trafficking)
Thank You!
Thank you to our Reach to Restore 2019 Fundraiser Volunteers:
Darren Lynch, Robert & Kim & Mike Carroll, Shelagh Spafford, Julie Southern, Peggy Marani, Tim Hintzoglou, Anne & Ted Pierce, Lisa Whitehouse, Megan Murphy, Streeta Farrell, Kelli Durham, Jessica Braverman, Mark Skeva, Sylvia Romero, Julie & Alicia Marietta, Kelly & Karen Perkins, Roxie Herbert, Karen Britz, Janet Read, Terri Norbye, Lauren Fitterer, Lise Bodine, Crystal Chen, Renee Moriarty, Verre Lew, David Meharg, Deborah Kwan, Kelsey Ellis, Melanie Moyer, Abby Young & Northgate Project Reach Group, and WC Presbyterian Church Community.
Thank you to everyone who attended and supported Reach to Restore 2019 Fundraiser!
