Do you believe in serendipity? You know, the idea that good things seem to come together for a reason?
Thursday was a serendipitous day for me. It started with a program at the Reading Club of Durango, where Gisele Pansze talked about Title IX as a game changer for women in “Off the Sidelines, Into the Game.” The act eventually increased opportunities for all young people, men and women, not just in sports, but in education, careers and even how we treat each other.
Pansze, who wore layers of outfits to illustrate her points, including a graduation gown, hockey armor and her daughter’s jersey, also shared a lot of information about how the act includes provisions against sexual harassment, requires fair treatment for pregnant and parenting students and has resulted in better grades, higher graduation rates and more confidence for young women.
And yet accounts proliferate of girls who are victims of sexual assault and are victimized again by schools and fellow students; 85 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students report having been the targets of significant harassment; and a recent Yale University study discovered that science professionals looking at male and female scientists with the same accomplishments and skills think the women are less competent. It shows that we have a long way to go.
Enter Elisabeth Schwartz, Kaylie Garcia and Beautifully Made. Inspired by their faith in God, they’re looking at another part of the human experience, being on the receiving end of domestic or sexual assault. Elisabeth, 16, says her goal is to “shine a light on the problem and be an advocate for those suffering in silence and fear.”
(Lest you think these young women are too young to be worrying about this, 44 percent of sexual-assault victims are younger than 18, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which also says 54 percent of assaults are not reported to police and 97 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.)
Beautifully Made started with the help of friends and family in July 2011 and works through the Durango Christian Church because, Elisabeth noted wryly, you have to be 18 to apply for 501(c)3 status with the IRS.
While she has suffered from multiple forms of abuse herself, and will share the stories any time she thinks they will help someone, Elisabeth’s focus is on helping others tell their tales.
“I believe that no one should have to live in silence because of what someone else did to them,” she said. “I know what that silence feels like, to need a place where that voice is heard.”
Beautifully Made sponsored a gala Thursday night at Durango Community Recreation Center to raise money for members to go to New York City this summer to work with other nonprofits dealing with the same issues. They already have gone to Tulsa, Okla., to participate in a film through Christ in Youth called “Year of the Kingdom Worker.”
One of Elisabeth’s inspirations was hearing the testimony of Juliet Rose. Rose flew in from Joplin, Mo., for the gala and will be speaking at Durango Christian Church this weekend.
Rose, who said she learned monsters were real at the age of 4 because of a “wicked” stepfather, was like too many kids who know the streets are safer than their homes. She lived a life of addiction and prostitution until she found her faith in Jesus. The founder of Guiding Light Ministries, she helps other women looking for a safe place where she and the organization “minister to the broken hearts of abused women.” (And she’s got a beautiful voice, too, as she showed on “Alabaster Box.”)
The gala was made possible because of the generosity of the people at the rec center and their efforts to help the budding activists get started, along with food from Jean-Pierre Bakery and the Strater Hotel. Artist Sara Wymer donated several paintings to be auctioned for the cause.
Beautifully Made also runs Project Semi-colon, working with other organizations such as Alternative Horizons to ensure that violent assaults don’t mean life has come to an end, but rather to a stopping place from which there can be a new beginning. Talk about an interesting use of punctuation!
Elisabeth also started a Bible study group at Durango High School after a lot of glitches with school administration about bylaws. It took the Rev. Jon Alsdorf, who is clearly one of Elisabeth’s biggest fans, teaching her about the Equal Access Act to make it a reality.
Lisa Schwartz, Elizabeth’s mother, read a poem she wrote called “A Hurt Man” because, as Elizabeth said, they realized that men can be hurt, too.
Through all of this, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes, a philosophy I try to follow. “Be kind whenever possible,” the Dalai Lama said. “It is always possible.”
(By the way, the specific definition of serendipity, according to Webster’s, is “a seeming gift for finding something good accidentally,” but I like mine better. The word comes from a Persian fairy tale about “The Three Princes of Serendip,” also known as Sri Lanka. Who knew?)
If you would like to support Beautifully Made, send your donations to the Durango Christian Church, 255 E. 11th St., Durango, CO 81301.
I know this is a story about the Christian faith, but I’ll leave you with another Dalai Lama quote, one that seems to apply here: “Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”
I wish this beautiful young woman hadn’t been hurt so badly, but her resilience and big heart are turning the hurt into helping. I think the Dalai Lama would approve.
HHH
The best birthdays are spent with family and friends, and here’s hoping these folks have that kind of fun – Carrie Vogel, Bob Riggio, John Sandhaus, Cheryl Wiescamp, Clint Wolf, Barbara Denk, Kade Jackson, Bob Sexton, Dian May, Hannah Helms, Ethan Johnson, Sydney Delacey, Tom Helms, Tim Martin, Jacob Clayton, Kelly Cunnion, Peter Cunnion, Bertie Brown and Joe Nelson.
Very special greetings go to one of my favorite people, Meredith Nass.
HHH
I forgot to get it in my Wednesday column, but book lovers don’t despair. Today is the final day of the Friends of the Durango Public Library’s biggest book sale of the year. This is the one where it cleans out the back rooms and storage sheds, with most books sold by the pound.
Friends of the Library pays for a number of library enhancements, subscriptions and new books, both print and e-versions, and the book sales are one of the ways they are able to foot those bills. Plus, who doesn’t need some good reading for summer trips and excursions?
The sale runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the library, 1900 East Third Ave.
HHH
The tulips are poking up their heads for the anniversaries of Kermit and Karen Knudson, Stan and Alice Crapo, Bob and Shannon Kunkel, Jim and Jane Marentette, Bill and Tamara Volz, Fred and Pauline Ellis and Russ and Pam Turpin.
HHH
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