MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “Getting clean is only part of it. You have to think about all the wreckage that was caused by it,” said Brittany Diaz. “I know I’m a better mother. It’s given me the opportunity to be present for my children. Because they were always with me but I wasn’t really there. Just my body was there.”
Diaz is a graduate of Thistle and Bee, a non-profit organization offering a recovery program for survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution and addiction.
“We have a two year residential and clinical program with wrap around services so everything clinical, therapy, family therapy, financial literacy,” said Executive Director Eli Cloud.
They also have a debt repayment program and matched savings account for the women.
“The final tier in our program is our social justice enterprise with workforce preparedness, job skills training,” she added.
The jobs skills training comes in the form of caring for bee hives and harvesting honey. The honey is then transformed into a wide variety of items like honey dippers, lip balm and even soap that is sold locally.
“We come from trauma-filled backgrounds and crime but they never like judged us for it. They just love us through it,” said Diaz.
That is why our anonymous donor wanted to give Thistle and Bee $1,000 because you arrive a survivor and leave as a thriver. They are a true community changer.
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