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11/9/2018

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#MyGivingStory

 
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VOTE FOR OUR ESSAY

YOUR VOTE MATTERS!

Vote for our essay for potential $ prizes to support Empowerment 4 Girls! You can vote once a day until the end of November.

Thank you so much for your time in supporting us!
Jeannine Anderson
Jeannine Anderson, President
Board of Directors, Empowerment 4 Girls

OUR ESSAY
Growing Up Strong

By Jeannine Anderson
I grew up on the border between poverty and lower-middle class. Sometimes there was plenty, of money, food, clothes, whatever, to meet our needs; sometimes not. Still, as a family we were generous and always had enough to share with someone in greater need than us. That goodwill and kindness, shared among a community, have stuck with me as a guiding life principles. It’s part of why there are warm, loving memories of family and childhood. I am a survivor of physical and emotional abuse experienced for over a decade of my youth, inflicted by family members and others. This is why there are also hard, painful memories of family and childhood.

Financial and domestic insecurity is traumatic, especially at a young age, and creates a fracture in your sense of self-worth that can continue to grow and hold a person back for life. Or it can be healed, like a piece of Kintsugi, the Japanese art pottery repaired with lacquer and precious metal dust. As a philosophy, Kintsugi embraces breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise; leaving a newly whole piece, beautifully held together with care and skill. This art and philosophy symbolize my personal life journey to heal and repair my breakages with love, hard-heart work, compassion and joy, lacquered together with sweat and tears.

There are lots of repairs, and still there are breaks along the way as I navigate life. It is the journey we are all on. To this day I work to unwind the complex knot of feelings and memories that come up with every instance where the pandemic of abuse in our world is highlighted, whether by uplifting movements or depressing events in the news and on social media.

I was gifted with a keen sense of internal strength and parents who, despite their shortcomings and dysfunctions, instilled in me a sense that I could do anything I set my mind to. I set my mind to surviving my childhood circumstances and getting out as soon as I felt capable of going it alone. I got in to work study programs in school when I was 14 and stayed with it until I was 18 and graduated from high school. By then I had the education and finances I needed to leave my hometown and strike off into the world to explore life, get a job, meet a new community. That early strength and confidence, even in the face of the concurrent abuse and trauma, helped me develop the self-care talents needed to move forward in life, patch and repair myself, evolve and grow from a frightened, damaged, confused, timid child into an empowered woman capable of loving and caring for myself, my family, friends and community.

Empowerment 4 Girls programs inspire me to volunteer my time as an officer of the board of directors, because our programs help grow strong girls who develop core life skills while they discover their own authentic power in a safe, fun, nurturing, and supportive environment. They don’t have to go it alone.

Working in Camp with other girls, our camp leaders and guest speakers, they learn that they can take care of themselves, do anything they set their hearts and minds to; that they can heal and repair life’s inevitable damages, and support and nurture others through those processes as well.

Empowerment 4 Girls program of day camps works with girls ages 9-16 to:
  • Educate them about what it means to take care of and value ones’ self and others and the relationships we build throughout our lives;
  • Inspire them to develop skills and habits that support and nurture their physical, emotional and mental well-being; and
  • Empower them to be advocates for themselves and others, and their community to help build a more conscious, compassionate future.
This #GivingTuesday, please consider joining me in supporting Empowerment 4 Girls with a donation. Together we make a difference in the lives of girls, giving them the tools, skills and confidence they need to grow into empowered women. Your contribution, large or small, to core support funding will help to ensuring our ability to provide our life-changing programs to more girls in our Olympia community, and beyond. Together we are raising strong girls and building a stronger community.
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6/2/2018

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A World Where #METOO Isn't Necessary

 
#metoo Empowerment 4 Girls
GUEST AUTHOR
JENNIFER JOHNSON, SECRETARY
EMPOWERMENT 4 GIRLS


I have wanted to write about #METOO, this seismic force of nature since the very first hashtags were rolling in and the silence cracked, women's’ whispers raised to a shout, deafening and destroying the protection of ego and fragility. I have wanted to write about it in many places and in so many ways—not to add anything new. I mean we all know this story inside and out and although I have said it out loud again and again to friends, sisters, husbands (mine and yours) acquaintances, and in an awkward moment of solidarity, a lady at the bank… I haven’t written it down yet, because, ugh, #METOO, am I right?!

Let it topple. We are here to rebuild.
"Breathe," I tell myself, triggered again and again. "Stay right here in your body and just breathe." Inhabiting my own empowerment through breath, voice, and being is not something that I take for granted. #METOO and #TIMESUP are powerful forces of nature, exposing the seething molten anger hiding underneath layers of barely stable mountain tops. "Let it topple," I say, "We are here to rebuild."

So many reasons…
As secretary for Empowerment 4 Girls (E4G), one of Olympia's newest nonprofits, I am keenly aware and involved with a group of some of the most dynamic women of our community. We are each a part of E4G for so many reasons:
  • Some of us are seeking to empower our own children, our own lost selves. After all, we were girls once desiring and deserving empowerment.
  • Some of us are learning what it means to step fully into the power of divine feminine flow and put our skills to magical use creating curricula and laughter.
  • Some of us struggle with the hegemony in our current educational system and we see E4G as an opportunity to create a welcoming space for all female-identifying beings.
  • Some of us are inspired by the possibility of teaching younger generations to create a new world built on awareness, love, and compassion.

Hope, Love, Faith, and Trust
We all have so many reasons to channel our hope, love, faith, and trust through this organization. #METOO is one of a zillion of my reasons; my focus on the future while we sort out the past so that we can empower the present with our voices, choices, surroundings. Bravely saying, "Me too, and I believe you, and I know it hurts," to the lineage of women who have lived without these hashtags for too long. Creating empowerment for girls is to honor and release the #METOOs, and create a future that will never accept it as the status quo.
Jennifer Johnson
PERSONAL INVITATION
Empower the future to heal the past.
May there be no more #METOO in the generations beyond this.
You can help us rebuild.

Jennifer Johnson

Ways to Help
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11/6/2017

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#GivingTuesday

 
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Entering its sixth year, #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.
Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources.
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Created by the team at the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y—a cultural center in New York City that, since 1874, has been bringing people together around the values of service and giving back—#GivingTuesday connects diverse groups of individuals, communities and organizations around the world for one common purpose: to celebrate and encourage giving. A team of influencers and founding partners joined forces, collaborating across sectors, offering expertise and working tirelessly, to launch #GivingTuesday and have continued to shape, grow and strengthen the movement.
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Please consider contributing to Empowerment 4 Girls. By making a charitable contribution you are helping to become a part of the solution to educate, inspire, and empower young women in our community.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

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Kristen Rubis, Executive Director
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10/8/2016

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Cantrell Maryott releases, We Came with a Mission

 
Cantrell Maryott

An Anthem for the World

 Long-time singer/song writer and visual artist, Cantrell Maryott releases, We Came with a Mission, October 6, 2016. Lyrics by Sharon Mehdi.
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Some years ago my friend Sharon Mehdi sent me the words to this song. She asked if I would write the music as an Anthem to give away free to the world. With the help of Jacquelene Ambrose, Mitzi Dasheya Cowell, Catherine Zavala, Karen Falkenstrom and Heather Hardy all playing from the love in their hearts it is now up on Bandcamp for a free download.

— Cantrell Maryott


About Cantrell

By Debi Bodett

I first crossed paths with Cantrell 18+ years ago, when I was moving out of Alaska, and she was arriving—that small space in time of 'before' and 'after'. We noticed each other and have remained 'friends of heart,' although never living in the same location.

I've been witness to her intrinsic artistic vision, through her one-of-a-kind reliquaries, song and musical creations, and her latest offering, Chanteling. Mostly, I've noticed how she listens to her heart and follows her intuitions. She lives true to her core with a deep integrity, to be admired.
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Where Joy Lives

Cantrell's gift is a direct reflection of her deep inner joy. When we witness that in others, we can sometimes ask, "I see joy there, but where does it live and how can I access it in my life?"

Seeking joy is a lifetime journey. As with all things, we need simply remember again and again, that it's present and always a choice. It gets trickier in the dark times when it's hard to remember or find motivation for anything.
A sound, simple piece of advice once came to me from two 8 year-old boys interacting. One said to the other, "I don't know how to be happy," and the other responded, "You just think of something you want to do. You do it, and then you're happy."
You think of something you want to do. You do it, and then you're happy.
I remembered that little pearl of wisdom during one of my more trying times, when I was having difficulty grasping anything, let alone finding joy. Then I remembered, it doesn't have to be big. It can be one small thing—just one, "Do one thing that makes you happy today."

Picking raspberries was the magic solution. Although raining, I tromped down the block to a raspberry patch, sat under the bush and picked berries. I tagged that moment as 'joy' in my memory—"This is what joy feels like." I've assigned joy to raspberries forever more and bake raspberry pies to celebrate joy in my life.

It feels simple, but I think choosing joy can really be just that simple.

About the Author

Debi Bodett is an independent graphic designer who enjoys connecting people by design.
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