30 Days of Justice: Tapestri

There are few truly safe places in our world. Somewhere we feel comfortable enough to be ourselves, let our guards down, and just...live. Now imagine trying to find that safety after being a survivor of abuse. It gets even harder to find that place. And when your home was the scene of the crime...that's the last place you want to be. Advocates in the Atlanta, GA saw a need for a safe haven for women who have survived some sort of abuse or trauma. A place were they could rest and rediscover safety. And so Tapestri was born. Their name, “Tapestri,” symbolizes the different threads of society coming together to form a safe cover to protect its many colored communities.

Tapestri is dedicated to ending violence and oppression in refugee and immigrant communities, using culturally competent and appropriate methods. As advocates for immigrant and refugee families affected by domestic violence, sexual assault and exploitation, they are committed to using education, community organizing, direct services and advocacy to effect change in the lives of these families. They believe that every person has a right to live without fear. Tapestri does not see domestic violence, sexual assault and exploitation as the problem of an individual woman or even as a couples’ issue but rather as a human rights issue. It is a phenomenon that grows out of societies in which gender inequality and the use of violence are accepted as the normal behavior. Tapestri seeks to educate individuals and agencies so that these destructive norms will not be continued into the next generation.

I attended a sex trafficking training in Macon, GA last year, and I got to meet some staff from Tapestri and hear a testimony from one of their survivors. And it was powerful. To hear what she lived through was absolutely heartbreaking. And then to discover how Tapestri was meeting her needs was encouraging. To see people fighting the same fight in other places of the country and the world is just refreshing. Reminded me how small this world is and how big my God is. And how only He can bring an end to violence against women and exploitation of His children. And maybe, just maybe, He will let us be a part of making that happen.