Our goal at Empower Survivors Now is to give survivors of sex trafficking a platform to not only heal but to also inspire other survivors to do the same.
Over two weekends in July 2022, Empower Survivors Now partnered with Restore NYC and the Writers Guild Initiative to conduct creative writing workshops for trafficking survivors. We gathered four professional writers to serve as mentors to ten participants. We had two participant groups, one in Spanish and one in English. We are holding a second set of workshops in February 2023. We are so grateful to all the participants and we look forward to continued collaborations.
We had two workshops in 2023 and we have two upcoming writing workshops in January and February 2024, continuing our partnership with Restore NYC and The Writers Guild Initiative. We also have a new board member!
Program Update
Our goal at Empower Survivors Now is to give survivors of sex trafficking a platform to not only heal but to also inspire other survivors to do the same. The platforms will be creative workshops that allow the survivors to write fiction, memoirs, make visual art, etc. The resulting work will be published on a website (with the survivor’s consent; all work may be kept private if wanted). In the future, workshops and classes about finance, housing, and how to enroll in education may be given to survivors, as well.
Mission Statement
“In July 2022, we kicked off our 2022-2023 season with a new dual partnership serving survivors of human trafficking. On two summer Saturdays, in partnership with Empower Survivors Now and Restore NYC, we shared storytelling tools with an incredible group of participants. This workshop also marked WGI's first-ever Spanish-language writing workshop. Mentors Ana Maria Jomolca and Jorge Corona led their participants through writing exercises fully in Spanish, and mentors Andrea Ciannavei and Mel Nieves led the English-speaking group. We're thrilled to continue this partnership with a round of workshops in early 2023.
One participant shared, "[This workshop was] amazing. I feel like I know where to start and learned how to deal with missing memories and how not to be afraid to be vulnerable."
—Richard Dresser, Writers Guild Initiative
Partners
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.