"There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless.' There are only the
deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard."
― Arundhati Roy
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Greetings!
For many people, home is a place that symbolizes family, love, and comfort, a place of happiness and healing. However, for millions of others, home is not a safe place. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that:
- 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are victims of physical violence by a partner every year.
- Every 9 seconds, a woman in the U.S. is beaten or assaulted by a current or ex-significant other.
- 1 in 4 men are victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
- At SAHARA, we are committed to helping these victims of sexual, mental, and physical abuse, become survivors and create the life they envision for themselves.
SAHARA's shelter, which is also known as a transitional living home (TLH), is an inclusive and confidential space for survivors of gender-based violence, domestic violence and sexual assault with culturally specific accommodations (halal, vegan, vegetarian, etc.) SAHARA believes in not just giving these survivors a temporary living space but works with them to create long term goals so that they can live a life of dignity and respect.
Help SAHARA help the community - Donate Today!
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SAHARA'S 28th ANNUAL GALA
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September was an exciting month here at SAHARA! On the 14th, we held our 28th Annual Gala- Empowering Our Community. It was a glamorous evening filled with inspirational stories, entertainment, and we ended up raising $350,000 in donations.
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The evening started with SAHARA's Board President, Brinda Gandhi and Vice-President Miji Vellakkatel welcoming everyone and introducing the evening's Emcee, Dan Nainan. Dan, who is half Indian and half Japanese, made the audience laugh with his culturally appropriate sense of humor and introduced the Keynote speaker of the evening, Indian American Congressman Ami Bera (D-Calif.) He talked to the audience about supporting SAHARA's mission, "While we are the most affluent community in America, we also know that there are lots of members of the South Asian community that are hiding in the shadows, organizations like SAHARA allow us to have those conversations which say you are not a victim, you are a survivor."
Continue reading...
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If you attended our gala and have some feedback, we would love to hear it!
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In 1920, all states made wife-beating illegal; however, it was still considered to be a "family issue." Only since the 1970s has the criminal justice system started to treat domestic violence as a serious crime.
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SAHARA held a Citizenship clinic on September 21
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in collaboration with the Norwalk Library. Citizenship Coordinator Tami Shaikh, along with our SAHARA receptionist, assisted people with filling out their applications and fee waivers and answered questions.
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Thank you, Norwalk Library, for hosting us!
The next Citizenship clinic will be on Sat. November 16th from 9 am- 2 pm again at the Norwalk Library.
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MEET THE NEWEST SAHARA TEAM MEMBER
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Sarah is our Community Engagement Manager. Prior to joining the SAHARA team, Sarah worked with patients at Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles. Her personal experiences growing up in Los Angeles motivated her to promote equity among minority and low -income communities. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is passionate about education, advocacy and justice.
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Sarah (on the right) with Hina Ahmad
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What is the funniest piece of advice you ever got?
Click here
to answer. The funniest answer will be posted here next month!!
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If you appreciate SAHARA's work and want us to continue with it, there are many ways you can help!
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