Joy Ingram, CEO and Founder of Love & Joy, discusses her journey from Georgia to Virginia, where she began advocacy work for domestic violence survivors. She highlights her roles at New Directions and RAFT, emphasizing the importance of supporting advocates to prevent burnout. Joy also shares her personal experience as a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault, which fueled her passion for advocacy. She notes that over 60% of advocates in the field of domestic abuse are survivors themselves and need consistent self-care and systematic changes within non-profit organizations. Joy plans to expand her Love & Joy consulting and workshop services to help and support more agencies and advocate organizations.

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Joy shares her background, born in Hawaii and raised in Rome, Georgia, before moving to Atlanta.
2. She explains her move to Staunton, Virginia, through an early college entrance exam.
3. Joy recounts her midlife crisis in 2016, which led her to make a connnection with a woman at her church and who adopted her into her family.
4. Joy discusses her passion for helping survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault, which began with her own experience.
5. Joy begins volunteering at a rape crisis center in Decatur, Georgia, and later at a crisis center in Atlanta.
6. She explains the New Beginnings organization and their programs and services.
7. Joy discusses the RAFT (Resilience for Advocates Through Foundational Training) and its mission to support advocates working in the domestic abuse fields.
8. She highlights the unique stresses faced by advocates, such as vicarious trauma from dealing with survivor issues throughout each working day.
9. Joy shares statistics that 61% of all advocates in the domestic abuse field are survivors of abuse themselves.
10. She discusses the importance of collaboration and communication between domestic violence agencies, sparking her idea to form her own consulting firm.
11. Joy explains her Love and Joy company and its place in supporting advocates in domestic abuse agencies, including workshops to prevent job burnout and promote self care.
12. She offers advice to survivors still in an abusive relationship as well as how to receive support after the end of the abusive partnership.

LINKS:

Love and Joy Facebook Page

RAFT (Resilience for Advocates Through Foundational Training)

www.financialabusehelp.net