Reunion Online

We at Joyful Heart are thrilled to be a part of NO MORE Day, happening tomorrow, March 13. This day marks the public launch of NO MORE, the nation’s first unifying awareness symbol to end domestic violence and sexual assault. In communities across the country, advocates will join forces to address the need to end domestic violence and sexual assault by launching NO MORE, the first overarching symbol that is bringing together all people in our society to end domestic violence and sexual assault. We invite you to join us—from wherever you are in the country—to help launch NO MORE and participate in one of the most concerted and collaborative efforts to end domestic violence and sexual assault.

Even though 1 in 4 women and nearly one in 7 men are directly affected by domestic violence in the U.S., it remains a largely hidden epidemic. Because we all have a role to play in preventing violence—and because talking about it is one of the first steps to ending it—the Verizon Foundation and CBS Sportscaster James Brown are helping to get the conversation going during a special #YourVoiceCounts Twitter Chat before the Super Bowl on Thursday, January 31 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET.

Weeks have passed since we rang in the New Year, and already our holiday cheer has begun to fade. Perhaps, that is why we begin each year with the same routine of reflecting on how we are going to improve ourselves in the coming year and then resolving to do a whole list of things that, too often, result in no change at all. This year, Emiliano challenges us to break free from this routine and the typical resolutions of weight loss and financial gain in order to bring about true change not just in yourself but in your community, as well. He invites us to reflect on the issue of male childhood sexual abuse and resolve to be a part of a growing network of support.

We have so much to look forward to and so much work to do. We hope you will join us on our journey in the new year. A donation today means not only a deduction on your 2012 taxes, but more importantly, a meaningful contribution to continue Joyful Heart’s work to help heal and empower survivors of violence and abuse.

2013 is just around the corner and we know now, more than ever, how necessary and important our work is. Thanks to supporters like you, in 2013 we will continue to heal and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse and the professionals who serve them. We will extend and grow our reach and we will respond to new community needs.

Sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse are heavy and complex issues. But the greater the number of people willing to lift, the lighter the load becomes for each individual to carry.

This holiday season, celebrate your loved ones with special gifts of joy from our Heartshop.

What would it be like if we, collectively, really saw surviving abuse or assault without blame, stigma or shame? Unafraid to listen to someone's story and unafraid to say "NO MORE?"

Our friends at the Verizon Foundation recently launched a new campaign called Your Voice Counts. The campaign is helping to break the silence around the issue of domestic violence by equipping bystanders?especially men?with tools to begin speaking up to prevent and end domestic violence.

We are proud to announce our first awareness campaign, 1BlueString. This campaign is aimed at raising awareness for the 1 in 6 men who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Our 1BlueString campaign is simple. We are asking guitarists at all levels to replace their low E guitar string (one of six strings) with one of our free, blue guitar string to symbolize the 1 in 6 men who have had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences in childhood.