‘Tis Always the Season: How Your Gifts Help Us Grow

Written by Bianca Davis, CEO

At New Friends New Life, one of our six Core Values is Stewardship.  We interpret stewardship within our agency this way:  “With a spirit of gratitude, we utilize with great care the resources of time, talent, and treasures entrusted to our organization.”  In other words, we embrace the responsibility to make the very most of every donor’s gift in order to create mission-focused outcomes that help change the lives of the women and girls we serve.

Since the very first day I joined the nonprofit industry 12 years ago, as a development director, I’ve been amazed at the kindness and generosity of those who give.  Today, I remain in awe of our donors and their impact.  Whether it’s a volunteer who donates her time after a long day at work or a company that writes a check to support an event they can’t even attend, it is the donor who makes it possible for nonprofit organizations to fulfill their mission.

Over the past 25 years, we’ve identified several barriers that stand between a survivor and the new life she deserves – legal advocacy, employment, education, and housing. Thanks to your gifts, NFNL is strategically removing these barriers step by step.  This year, we have expanded our Legal Advocacy Clinic by hiring a paralegal to support our onsite staff attorney. We are also six months past the groundbreaking of Liberty Street Garden – an innovative partnership with The Meadows Foundation and Bonton Farms that creates employment opportunities for members in our Women’s Program. Next, we have our eyes set on creating an on-site education program to serve the 30% of our women who didn’t finish high school.  We are accomplishing these goals all while meeting the immediate basic needs of and providing trauma-informed counseling for nearly 350 women and girls this year alone.

We are growing to meet the needs of our members, and it is your giving, during this season and all year round, that fuels our growth.

The holidays are sprinkled with increased generosity and our members reap the benefits of the community’s kindness. Even today, our hallways are buzzing with gratitude as women pick up holiday gifts for their families. Thanks to you, 300 gift wishes were filled! In the coming days, donors just like you will be writing checks and making online gifts to causes that matter most. Know that if your list includes NFNL, we are committed to being good stewards of your resources, investing in ways that restore and empower women and girls in our community impacted by sex trafficking and exploitation.

For all the ways you have given of your time, talent, and treasures in 2023, I am in awe of you and cannot thank you enough!

For more ways to take a #StandforHER, purchase your Stand for Her t-shirt in preparation for Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11 or join NFNL’s Power of 10 Club.