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Kroger has committed to donating a portion of purchases made with Kroger Plus Cards to the nonprofit organization of your choice. And we sure hope you’ll choose us!

It just takes a couple of minutes to register your Kroger Plus Card for the Community Rewards Program. Here is how you do it:

• Click on this link —-> https://www.kroger.com/i/community/community-rewards
• Choose “Sign in” if you already have an account with Kroger or “Create an Account” if you don’t.
• Then, register your card using the number on your Kroger card or your alternative ID number.
• Next, search for GreenHouse17.  (You could just search “green” and we’ll pop up.)
• Just click on our name.

We’re planning a U-Pick Day on the farm! Get together a group of family and friends for a fun day of flower picking on our farm.

Saturday, August 23
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
On our farm – Request directions here
$10 per bucket

Our beautiful flowers are field-grown by our staff and strong survivors of intimate partner abuse. More than a dozen varieties of flowers available! Every bucket picked helps survivors on the journey of healing. And shows them the community truly cares. Remember to wear comfortable clothes, and bring your own bucket and clippers if you’ve got ’em. Rain or shine, family-friendly event. Cash, check, and credit accepted.

The following is a beautiful blog written by a resident at our shelter:

“A blessing and a curse understanding the misunderstood independent and then codependent -is this what mixed emotions are all about?

With all the redundant obstacles that life requires, How easily does one become hypocritical? Tried and then tried to figure this journey out within the walls of this safe haven.

It’s encouraged here that the extremest impossibilities are purely tangible. But that most supernatural being that engulfs my atmosphere named Misery truly loves my company. I’m learning that to learn myself is that key I’ve always needed to that locked door in this secret garden.

Still easily lost on a straight path, I thought it was okay to expect an opportunity to fall into the palm of my hand. Ill knowledged? NO But my feet must make rhythmic moves and my cerebellum make rational decisions. All along, accepting that merging left to go right, is going to happen time and time again.

Throughout, I must want to need to help myself because accepting myself, nobody every made me feel this way. Come closer and let your light shine through.”

This post is part of our Survivor Stories series.

How do you imagine our shelter?

Many people assume it’s a sad place given the nature of our mission, but our shelter probably isn’t what you imagine.

Although the families we serve are healing from unimaginable physical, emotional, and financial violence,  our shelter is a place where hope grows.

Every day more than 32 adults and children find safety and healing between the walls of our emergency shelter. Survivors meet in the mornings to support each other and create plans for better tomorrows. Children run through our hallways after school on their way outside to play. The smells of homemade meals float through our building at suppertime.

We are nurturing lives harmed by intimate partner abuse, and we want to share these stories of hope with you.

So, each month this summer we are offering a tour of our facility:

• Tuesday, June 24 – 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday, July 31 – 11:30 a.m.
• Tuesday, August 26 – 5:30 p.m.

Tours last about an hour and include light refreshments. Our advocates and counselors will be on hand to answer questions about our services; a member of our leadership team will describe the vision for our organization’s future; and a shelter resident will share a personal story of survival.

We limit the size of each tour group (usually fewer than 10 people) to ensure a quality experience and plenty of time to ask questions.

Registration before the tour is required.

Just give Josh a call at 859-868-8868 or complete the following form to register. We will follow up with additional information and driving directions before the tour.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Josh Nadzam, former University of Kentucky athlete and member of our staff, will run from Lexington to Frankfort on Thursday, March 6 to raise awareness and support for proposed legislation to protect victims of intimate partner abuse in dating relationships.

Did you see Josh in the news and want to show your support? Follow this link to make your donation.

This is a one-man run to improve Kentucky’s response to the needs of dating violence victims. Josh acknowledges the run is going to be difficult but says, “The challenge is nothing compared to the difficulties experienced by victims and survivors of dating violence in Kentucky.”

“I believe so many Kentuckians support civil protections for dating partners but just aren’t aware of the challenges advocates and legislators have faced trying to make this bill law,” says Nadzam. “I’m hoping my run to Frankfort gets people talking and calling on our elected officials for support.”

Josh is asking Kentuckians to show their support for dating violence protections by making a donation for every mile he will run. Contributions will benefit our organization and provide services to survivors in need.

“I’m a runner. So, I’m running because these protections are really needed here in Kentucky,” says Nadzam. “But everyone can do something. After all, if we are aware of injustices and don’t do anything, then we are contributing to those injustices as passive bystanders.”

He has created an online campaign to accept donations. Learn more at this link.

We  just received some amazing news. Our organization is among four recipients of the 2013 Mary Byron Project Celebrating Solutions Award!

This national award showcases and recognizes organizations for innovations that demonstrate promise in breaking the cycle of domestic violence. A panel of experts select programs they believe serve as models for the nation. The award specifically recognizes our organization’s commitment to integrating  farming, nutrition, and other trauma-informed healing efforts with traditional responses to domestic violence to help victims rebuild their lives as survivors.

Fellow award-winners include District Alliance for Safe Housing, (DASH) in Washington, D.C.; National Crime Victim Law Institute in Portland, Oregon; and Rutgers, School of Social Work, Center on Violence Against Women and Children in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Each winning organization will receive $10,000 donation from the Mary Byron Project.

News of this important recognition is especially meaningful to our Board of Directors and staff during the holiday season, when the critical need for our services and care is underscored. Although the day-t0-day work of our complex mission can be daunting, survivors in our shelter and around our 17-county service area inspire us every day to continue our commitment to the  mission of ending intimate partner violence in families and our community.

We have big news to share! We’ve learned an idea we submitted to a national competition was chosen as a finalist from more than 160 submissions representing 260 applying organizations

A few weeks ago, our staff submitted an idea to the Partnership for Freedom, a competition seeding innovative ideas to better care for survivors of modern-day slavery in the United States. Reimagine: Opportunity, the first of three challenges to be issued by The Partnership for Freedom, seeks creative, sustainable ways to address critical issues faced by human trafficking survivors: sustainable housing, economic empowerment and social services

Our idea supports survivor healing and self-sufficiency through development of agricultural vocation and small business skills to promote economic independence. The program model borrows from the agricultural practice of value-added production, a process that increases the economic value of produce by altering its condition.

We have formed a project team — representing our organization, Grow Appalachia, and Berea College — and will travel to Washington D.C. next month to participate in an Innovation Workshop to refine our idea and prepare our proposal for final submission. We look forward to sharing and exploring our commitment to agriculture-based healing with national leaders and innovators to help find solutions for survivors.

Final winners will be announced in Spring 2014 and will receive funding to begin piloting their solutions. We will keep you updated along the way. Wish us luck!