The Survivors' Circle

04/27/2020

San Francisco Offers 911 Text Service to Further Support Domestic Violence Survivors During Shelter Order

04/27/2020

Domestic violence is increasing during this time, and we want to support the best we can.
We are right brainstorming to see how we best can use our resources to raise awareness and potentially money during this time.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have ideas, resources, or an organization in mind that we can support. We would love to hear from you.

Thank you,
Linda & Jessie

“As we shelter in place to limit COVID transmission, survivors of domestic violence are at an increased risk of danger and victimization by their abusers,” said District Attorney Boudin in a press release. “Now more than ever, we must work together to ensure that the most vulnerable of our victims have a place to shelter free from abuse. We have come up with an immediate plan for 20 furnished apartments and are working collaboratively to find shelter for many more survivors in the coming days.”

After an initial 60% spike in referrals to The City’s Victim Services Division during the first week of shelter-in-place orders, the office noted a 33% dropoff the following week. Although organizations who support victims of domestic violence have modified their services to provide virtual care, access to those resources may be out of reach when victims are living in the same home as their abusers.

“On top of dealing with the global pandemic, far too many families also have to deal with the threat of violence and abuse at home, all while being more socially isolated from their friends and other support networks,” said Mayor Breed

Victims of abuse who are trapped during lockdown may have somewhere to turn

03/13/2020

Hi everyone,

We are sad to say but we have to postpone our event on 3/18 until further notice due to the situation in the world.

If you need support during this time, please feel free to reach out to us.

We hope we can gather soon and continue this conversation.

We are sending you all love!

Be safe!

With gratitude,
Linda & Jessie

03/02/2020

📣The Survivors’ Circle is proud to announce ~Erika Pappas~ as the expert guest speaker at our ✨Forgiveness & Compassion✨ gathering on Wednesday, March 18th, 6:30-8:30pm.

Working in the non-profit sector for almost a decade, and holding a dual master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and art therapy, Erika has valued and advocated for a social-ecological approach to trauma and its impact. She held a range of positions in the mental health non-profit field including clinician, educator, advocate and partnerships manager. She recently rekindled her professional creative path as the Director of Healing Arts at Sunset Youth Services. Erika also consults on creative arts program development, using a trauma-informed and creative arts lens to develop and rebuild programs, design interactive and arts-based curriculums, and foster long-term partnerships with diverse agencies. As a survivor of sexual assault herself, she centers relationships as methods of creating change in responding to trauma, creating systems that are trauma informed, and allowing us to move collectively from surviving to thriving.

We are honored & excited to have you as part of our circle, Erika, and look forward to learning from your experience & expertise! 🙏🏻✨💞

With love & gratitude,

&

02/13/2020

🗓 Save the date! Join us on Wednesday, March 18th 6:30-8:30pm in San Francisco for our 1st free quarterly event of 2020!
🌟We’re kicking off this year in high vibration with our gathering’s theme of Forgiveness & Compassion.
💪🏻We’ll build community & connection with an interactive discussion, expert guest speaker & guided meditation.
🌈*ALL* are welcome & more details to follow so stay tuned!

💞🙏🏻 With love & gratitude,

&

12/05/2019

Aloha from The Survivors’ Circle 👋🏻 This inaugural year was powerful & affirming plus we learned so much along the way! Here’s a quick recap:

~Our fundraiser at was super fun and a major hit as it fully covered our production costs!🍻
~The big July event at The Women's Building created a platform for our 6 expert speakers to share with the community their knowledge, wisdom & experience surrounding trauma-related topics and fostered awareness, education, new perspectives, healing, reflection & connection. 💞
~We learned meditation & consciousness 101 and simple, effective breathwork techniques to add to our survivorship toolbox. 💪🏻
~All proceeds were 💯% donated evenly to the incredible nonprofits CUAV, Woman, Inc. - Women Organized to Make Abuse Nonexistent & SFWAR 💸

We are extremely excited for 2020 and already have our plan mapped out for free quarterly events! Stay connected for developments on this and reach out any time with comments & questions 🙏🏻💚💫

With love & gratitude,

Jessie & Linda

07/24/2019

We are so humbled and moved by the outcome of the first gathering of The Survivors' Circle and unable to fully express our gratitude for each and every one of you who was involved. Thank you to all the attendees, panelists, organizations, donors, friends, family, advocates, and the courageous survivors that continue to inspire us to do this work!

Let us know your email address if you’d like to be added to our mailing list and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay up to date! Stay tuned for more information about the next edition of The Survivors' Circle and reach out any time with questions and/or feedback. Have a beautiful day 🙌💞✨

Love and light,

Jessie and Linda

07/20/2019

The Survivors' Circle will be donating all its proceeds from its inaugural event *tomorrow* Sunday, July 21st at The Women's Building in San Francisco to three amazing nonprofits. The third to highlight is San Francisco Women Against R**e (SFWAR).

SFWAR is a women of color led, volunteer-based organization that has provided r**e crisis services to survivors of sexual assault for 40 years. As the primary provider of r**e crisis services in San Francisco, they also offer support to friends and families of survivors and provide training, and assistance to healthcare workers, medical professionals, educators, law enforcement officers and other professionals throughout the city. Their prevention programs have reached young people in classrooms in schools serving every area of San Francisco, and provided information and resources to people of all ages through community programs, social services, and numerous community events. All of their services are confidential and free of charge.

We support their belief that no single individual, organization, foundation, or business alone can stop the epidemic of sexual assault, but by responding as a whole community, we each bring our piece of the solution. Thank you for the incredible, important work that you do, SFWAR, and we are so thrilled to have you at our event tomorrow to spread more awareness!

San Francisco Women Against R**e

07/19/2019

The Survivors' Circle will be donating all its proceeds from its inaugural event on Sunday, July 21st at The Women's Building in San Francisco to three amazing nonprofits, and we'll be highlighting each over the next few days to spread more awareness. Next up, we have Community United Against Violence (CUAV).

Founded in 1979, CUAV works to build the power of LGBTQ (le***an, gay, bisexual, transgender and q***r) communities to transform violence and oppression. They support the healing and leadership of those impacted by abuse and mobilize our broader communities to replace cycles of trauma with cycles of safety and liberation. As part of the larger social justice movement, CUAV works to create truly safe communities where everyone can thrive.

They support the wellness of predominantly low- and no-income LGBTQ people surviving violence or abuse and offer some of the following programs:

~Support Groups: LGBTQ people dealing with violence or abuse can build their skills to heal from trauma and create healthy relationships.
~Advocacy-Based Peer Counseling: LGBTQ people dealing with violence or abuse can access short-term counseling to receive emotional support, safety planning, referrals, and limited case follow-up.
~If you are an LGBTQ person dealing with violence or abuse, leave a message for CUAV at (415) 333-HELP (4357). Services require the completion of an intake to assess if we are the best fit for support.
~Leadership Development: Participants build their skills in peer support and connect their personal experiences of violence to the larger social, economic, and political conditions they face.
~Training: They provide a limited number of trainings for service providers and community organizations to increase their capacity to support the safety of LGBTQ people.

We are so thankful for all the support you provide our LGBTQ family, CUAV, and excited to share more about your work at our gathering! 🙏💞✨

07/18/2019

The Survivors' Circle will be donating all its proceeds from its inaugural event on Sunday, July 21st at The Women's Building in San Francisco to three amazing nonprofits, and we'll be highlighting each over the next few days to spread more awareness. First up, we have Woman, Inc. - Women Organized to Make Abuse Nonexistent.

W.O.M.A.N., Inc. has operated since 1978 as a community-based, multi-service agency, serving survivors of domestic violence in San Francisco and the larger Bay Area.

Some of their services include :
~A 24/7 support line for counseling, safety planning, and referrals for needed resources which can be reached at (877) 384-3578 for English and (877) 384-3578 para Español
~Both on-going individual therapy and family therapy for survivors with their children in both English and Spanish
~Presentations to groups, organizations, schools and workplaces on a variety of topics related to domestic violence

We are so grateful for all that you do for our community, W.O.M.A.N., Inc., and look forward to having you at our event! 🙏💞✨

Welcome to W.O.M.A.N., Inc. Women Organized to Make Abuse Nonexistent, Inc. (W.O.M.A.N., Inc.) has operated since 1978 as a community-based, multi-service agency, serving survivors of domestic violence in San Francisco and the larger Bay Area. Click below for more information about W.O.M.A.N., Inc.....