JWI to Bring Comfort to Women Living in Domestic Violence Shelters on Mother’s Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         
April 1, 2016

CONTACT: Meredith Jacobs, VP Communications
Direct: 202.464.4803 / (c) 301.529.8591

Washington, D.C. – This Mother’s Day, the women living in 200 domestic violence shelters nationwide will receive bouquets of flowers and financial literacy resources through Jewish Women International’s (JWI) Flower Project. Since 1999, JWI’s Flower Project allows the 45,000 women and children spending Mother’s Day in more than 200 battered women’s shelters nationwide know they are remembered and loved and provides financial literacy resources to help them rebuild their lives and create safe homes for their children.

“Our Flower Project gives the 45,000 women and children living in domestic violence shelters a chance to spend a moment away from the daily worries of housing, safety, employment and their health and well-being, by lifting their spirits and letting them know that people they’ve never met before are thinking about them,” says Kim Holstein, chair of Jewish Women International’s board of trustees. “These survivors strive every day to build better lives for themselves despite countless obstacles and overwhelming adversity, and a bouquet of vibrant flowers can remind them that they are loved.”

Each $25 contribution allows JWI to send a Mother’s Day or Father’s Day card to the honoree of the sender’s choosing. Proceeds from the sales of cards are used to send bouquets of flowers and specially developed financial literacy resources to domestic violence shelters. JWI has established relationships with nearly 200 domestic violence shelters across the country, which it supports through projects including its Flower Project and the National Library Initiative, which establishes children’s libraries in homeless and battered women’s shelters. The funds raised through the Flower Project sustain JWI’s programs and advocacy and educational initiatives, which empower women and girls and seek to break the cycle of domestic and sexual violence.

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8th.

"Gifts of this kind raise the spirits of women who are trying to move forward towards a second chance at a better life,” said Beth Burns, director of Chelsea House in Tallahassee, FL, a Flower Project recipient. “Our heartfelt thanks to JWI for the beautiful flowers for Mother’s Day."

“With a donation to JWI’s Flower Project, you are not only honoring the special people in your life by telling them they’ve inspired you to help women in need, you’re also bringing happiness to women and children struggling to move forward and build a better future,” says JWI CEO Lori Weinstein. “This small gesture of kindness helps inspire optimism and renewed faith for victims of domestic violence.”

To learn more about this important project, or to make a donation and send a card, visit jwi.org/flowerproject or call 800.343.2823.

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Jewish Women International (JWI) is the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls domestically and internationally. JWI is a Steering Committee member of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women and convenes the Interfaith Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and the Clergy Task Force to End Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community, and is a member of the Gun Violence Table. JWI’s advocacy efforts focus on the passage of legislation that supports women and girls, ensures their economic security, and protects their right to live free of violence.