Supporting Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Since 2014

Supporting Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Since 2014
www.EmpowerSurvivors.net
​Stillwater, MN

EmpowerSurvivors- The Beginning

Elizabeth Sullivan, Founder/ CEO

I just couldn’t believe that the pain of childhood sexual abuse that I had pushed so far back in my mind could come back with such vengeance. The flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, hypervigilance, nightmares, and suicidal thoughts seemed to take over my life and I thought I was losing my mind. I didn’t know who I could tell, who I could trust, and I was fearful of anyone finding out about this "secret" I had kept for decades. I feared things I did not understand and wore the cloak of shame and blame so tight around me that the thought of telling anyone of my childhood molestation and rape made me physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually sick. I was stuck in a world of negative voices, isolation, and mistrust, and I felt as though my life was over.

I wondered how reprehensible abuse could be happening to children at epidemic levels and no one was talking about it. I wondered how I could go a lifetime not realizing how unprocessed trauma had affected my life. I wondered how I could go through life thinking I was damaged goods, dirty, and not good enough, and why when I finally did break my silence no one was there to support me or others abused as children. 

I just couldn’t accept the silence, the lack of education and support, and the blame put on survivors of this crime. So I began not only my healing journey but the beginnings of EmpowerSurvivors.” - Elizabeth Sullivan 
                                                                     
EmpowerSurvivors was created and founded by Elizabeth Sullivan in 2014. It was during her healing journey that she realized survivors needed an organization that would provide safe spaces of healing and support. Along with the safe spaces, Elizabeth knew that it was equally important to provide resources and education, so survivors could better understand their healing journey and how the child abuse that happened to them so many years ago, could manifest itself into every fiber of their being.

EmpowerSurvivors Today

Today, EmpowerSurvivors is a peer-led 501c3 charitable non-profit organization based in Stillwater, MN, and run and operated by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and trauma.
​EmpowerSurvivors supports survivors locally, nationally, and worldwide. We believe in uniting our voices, supporting survivors on their healing journeys, educating communities, and reducing the adverse childhood experiences that affect not only the survivor but their families, society, and institutions.

EmpowerSurvivors Work
In the past 10 years, we have had the incredible privilege of :

• working with thousands of survivors and their families
  
• Creating safe spaces of online healing
  
• Meeting with 200 predators to help them understand how their abuse affects the children they have abused.
  
• Aiding survivors seeking justice through the MN Child Victims Act
  
• Speaking in front of MN State Senate and House committees
  
• Working on prominent cases for survivors abused by priests, clergy, Boy Scouts of America, Minnesota Children’s Museum, and institutional abuse
  
• Participating in the annual “Take Back The Night” Events
  
• Partnering with Healing Within Acupuncture & Wellness, NAASCA, Grace Network, Jacob Wetterling Foundation, Healing Within, 5WAVES, Hush No More, Jeff Anderson & Associates, The Fiona Project, Riverfalls Sexual Assault Center, national podcasts, local business owners, and survivors.​
  

What EmpowerSurvivors Offers

​

• Online Facebook peer groups
  
• Zoom Peer Support Groups
  
• Conversations with Elizabeth Podcast 
  
• Peer- to Peer Mentorship
  
• Partner/family education
  
• Classes on Mental health education, meditation, childhood trauma, healing & wellness
  
• Trauma Leadership Network
  

Meet Our Board​

Gabbie Belisle, Kelly Geiger, Jennifer Kindera, and Elizabeth Sullivan
EmpowerSurvivors board members work together and meet monthly to fulfill our mission of helping survivors heal from
​ the trauma of sexual abuse.

Find out More!
www.EmpowerSurvivors.net
[email protected]
Donate today!
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