Redeeming the Healing Process
The flourishing of sexual violence survivors through the cultivation of compassionate and just communities.
OUR VISION
Redeeming the healing process for student survivors of sexual violence across university campuses by restoring dignity, honoring courage, cultivating belonging, and facilitating justice.
OUR MISSION
RESTORING DIGNITY
Every 73 seconds someone is sexually assaulted. 90% of victims are female (RAINN). Survivors of sexual assault who choose to pursue justice against their offender after rape or assault through PERK (Physical Evidence Recovery Exams) face the decision to either give up their clothing as evidence and be left to return home in their medical examination gown, or to keep their clothing but forsake a compelling legal case. Our mission is to eliminate the moment a survivor is forced to choose between dignity or justice, and to redeem it with one where they feel significantly loved, dignified, and empowered. We curate and distribute care packages given to survivors after completion of the PERK exam that include new clothing, personal hygiene items, and informative resources to help women regain their dignity as they walk out of the hospital and return to their lives post-trauma.
HONORING COURAGE
We strive to honor the courage of survivors pressing into resilience post-trauma; both those who choose to raise their voice and those healing in quiet. The simple act of reaching out for help is an act of bravery. Whether a survivor needs help navigating next steps after an assault that occurred last night, or has decided to share the story of their experience that took place years ago for the first time, we honor and affirm the courage to show up for self and others.
CULTIVATING BELONGING
A sense of belonging to self and community is an essential foundation for healing. We strive to foster connections and create a safe environment where survivors are able to practice vulnerability and authenticity. Nora & Co. is designed for and depends on community engagement. Survivors have the opportunity to submit their artworks of befitting meaning to be printed on items included in care packages along with a handwritten postcard. Including these personal touches reassures new survivors they were thought of before there was ever a need and uniquely cared for by a support system of other women who have walked in their shoes, ready to travel the road to healing alongside them.
FACILITATING JUSTICE
We recognize agency as a key component in healing. Every survivor should experience autonomy when contemplating what justice might look like for them, which requires the ability to make self-led decisions without great personal sacrifice. We support the facilitation of justice by granting survivors the freedom to give up their clothing for evidence collection while conserving their sense of dignity. By curating resources and connecting survivors to professional services, we create a system of care that supports survivor-led decision making during an immediate crisis response and throughout the extended healing process.
“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
OUR VALUES
Dignity
Recognizing all persons as being inherently worthy of having their humanity honored.
Courage
Cultivating a spirit of bravery and zeal in meeting difficulty. We practice the courage to walk alongside people who are hurting in solidarity while releasing control of the path. We believe courage is contagious; every time we are brave with our lives, we make the people around us a little braver, too. The protagonist of every message we share is the courage of the survivor.
Compassion
Honoring our shared humanity in every interaction with others; allowing the understanding that we’re all made from strength and struggle to move us towards presence with those experiencing suffering and to compel us into action with empathy. We share in their sorrow as a relationship of equals, resisting the temptation to hero ourselves as healers. We are attentive to the lived experience of others and believe the story of what it’s like to walk in their shoes even when it doesn’t match our experiences.
Belonging
Creating space for others to believe that their most authentic selves are welcomed and required in the building of true community. We cultivate belonging through a shared commitment to practicing compassion, trust, and vulnerability. We prioritize authentic social connections as an essential component to healing.
Stewardship
Practicing financial stewardship by holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards of responsibility in the care and management of the resources entrusted to our organization through the generosity of others.
Practicing story stewardship by honoring the stories survivor’s entrust to us as sacred. We believe every story matters and as recipients of great value, we build narrative trust through engaged listening, affirmation of the storyteller, belief in the experience being shared, and encouragement of survivor-led decision making in each story’s keeping and distribution.