BATON ROUGE — A local nonprofit that helps women escape abusive relationships is asking for help from the community as one survivor faces the possibility of losing her home.
As Faith to Flee gets ready for another fundraiser this week, founder Ashleigh Burns is calling on anyone who is in the position to make a donation to step up, not just for Faith to Flee, but for a survivor in a desperate situation.
Burns said this survivor has been working three jobs, but recently lost one, and now can’t pay her rent for the month. “She actually started a new job today, but she doesn’t have enough money to come up with her rent money,” Burns explained. “She has $300 of it, but she needs $1000 to keep her house.”
The survivor has four young kids, and has been away from her abuser for about a year. “She isn’t someone who we helped get away from her abuser, but she is someone who’s worked closely with the foundation, sharing her story with other survivors and volunteering,” Burns said. “It just really feels like knowing that she’s a survivor, that the foundation needs to help her now that she needs it.”
Burns has a Faith to Flee GoFundMe, Venmo, and PayPal account (QR codes below) set up for anyone to make donations. “Monetarily speaking, we pretty much have no money coming in at this point, so everything is coming completely out of pocket,” she said.
Burns is asking that anyone who has the means to help this survivor to donate. “No survivor should face homelessness while trying to rebuild their life,” she said.
If you can’t make a monetary donation right now, Burns said the best way to help is to share Faith to Flee’s Facebook content. “By liking and sharing our posts, every time a post is shared the word gets out there,” she said. “Eventually it’s going to get to the right people who are going to be able to donate financially. That’s not only going to be a blessing to the foundation, but it’s also going to be a blessing to the women and children in the community who need it.”
Upcoming fundraisers
You can also support the organization on Wednesday, Nov. 5, during Faith to Flee’s Fundraising Night at Off the Hook in Denham Springs on South Range Avenue. “From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. they’re going to donate 10% of their proceeds to Faith to Flee,” Burns said. “We’ll be there too, in the front with all of our merchandise, handing information out to people, and getting to know them.”
Faith to Flee is also hosting a “Light the Way” candle fundraiser through Dec. 11. “Each candle purchased helps us move one step closer to acquiring transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence and also supports our future community events,” Burns said.
You can purchase candles here.
Girl Scouts step up
Recently, a Girl Scout troop reached out to Burns to help Faith to Flee with donations. “The Girl Scouts of America helped us bring in a lot,” Burns said. “They did a donation drive where they had people bring in items. They also did a nonperishable trunk or treat. They asked people in the community to leave out canned goods and nonperishables on their porches, and then the girls went house to house and picked it up.”
“They were able donate nonperishable foods and clothing, women’s essentials, some household essentials, some toys, things like that. That was a huge blessing for us.”
Support slowing down
Burns, who started Faith to Flee over the summer, said it seems like the support she was once seeing on social media for her organization seems to be slowing down. “People are just not responding the way that they were when we first launched. And that’s a little disheartening,” she said.
She wants people to know that Faith to Flee is still helping women and families, even though they don’t post about those individuals. “I’m not going to do that. I’m never going to do that because that just puts them at risk,” she said. “Just because we’re not talking about it doesn’t mean we’re not helping people.”
Since UWK last spoke with Burns in September, she said Faith to Flee has successfully helped one more person get out of a domestic violence situation.
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