As the Exxon Mobil Spouses Club (EMSC) Co-Vice President of Community, one of my responsibilities in the fall of 2008 was to identify and select an organization that would benefit from our Annual Holiday Luncheon auction proceeds. The Tahirih Justice Center immediately came to mind as I had recently learned about the organization at a women’s group meeting where Tahirih’s Executive Director Layli Miller-Muro and her colleague gave a presentation.

Layli spoke with such passion as to how her work with the organization began and how it has evolved from the first court case she was involved in as a student attorney to what the organization has become today. I took Tahirih’s literature that day and came home to do more research on the organization. I knew it was an organization that I wanted to support and with which I wanted to become involved.

The EMSC Board agreed that the Tahirih Justice Center would be a great fit for us to support from the holiday luncheon proceeds. At our Annual Holiday Luncheon we were able to raise over $7,500 for the organization.

Layli spoke to the spouses at the Holiday Luncheon, giving a background on the Tahirih Justice Center, and how many women and children are now being helped. Her talk generated an outpouring of interest from the members at the luncheon, and since then, many have volunteered their time and talents in support of Tahirih.

One of the most rewarding projects was decorating the children’s room at Tahirih’s new offices so that children could play in a comfortable space, while their mothers meet with Tahirih staff. Several EMSC members organized this project, and provided paint, toys, bins, and a special quilt made by the EMSC quilt group. This quilt was designed with a fun learning motif allowing the children to play “I SPY.”

I could go on for pages describing my sense of the impact volunteering at the Tahirih Justice Center has had on so many women. However, nothing speaks as eloquently as a number of the collected comments of those members who have volunteered at Tahirih.

Susan R. – Members of the Exxon Mobil Spouses Club were thrilled to help furnish and decorate a new children’s playroom at the Tahirih Justice Center, a special place where the children can play safely, express themselves, and feel at home. EMSC members also generously donated funds and art supplies which were used to organize an art party for the kids. Tahirih clients and their children were treated to an afternoon of messy fun and creativity, snacks, and music. Working with the kids at Tahirih has been an enriching experience for all those involved.

Eva K. – The Tahirih Justice Center is a great organization for the women who are battered, abused, or neglected. The organization offers much needed services in legal representation and help accessing social services. I worked on the children’s art project, for which many of the ladies of the club donated art and treats. Prudy T. and Lynn M. were there to help draw, paint, and create collages. It was wonderful. The kids enjoyed their projects!

Dorry E. – I have always felt that children, in most every stage of crisis, are the innocent victims. It seemed to me that the children that need to accompany their mother on a visit to the Tahirih Justice Center are already facing hardship and unpleasantness in their life for reasons way beyond their control. If we could provide a happy and cheerful surrounding for them for the hour or so that they would need to wait then that was something we (the quilt ladies) could easily do. And perhaps just looking at that quilt hanging on the wall and trying to find or identify particular animals or motifs would give them a “time out” from the difficulties of day to day life and be a bright spot in a difficult time. If a client’s child feels happy and secure, then a mother is much better able to cope with whatever life is throwing at her.

As you can see, the opportunity to participate in activities with the Tahirih Justice Center has touched many of our members. I am proud that the Exxon Mobil Spouses Club of Fairfax was able to support such a worthwhile and needed cause. I wish continued success as you continue to serve the needs of so many women and children!

Become a LifeSaver

The legal cases of the women and girls we serve are complicated and time-intensive claims that require legal staff time, client calls, meetings, and court hearings. It costs Tahirih $5,000 to advocate for just one woman or girl fleeing gender-based violence. Yet, when you consider the alternative of a woman or girl being forced to return to face certain violence or even death, the cost of their protection seems like very little.

You can make a secure donation now as a one-time gift or in installments. For more information, please contact us at development@tahirih.org.

Then sometime in the late 1990s, I went to a conference on gender equality. And there was Layli Miller-Muro, saying roughly that she worked with a nonprofit that defends immigrant women and girls who seek protection from female genital mutilation, spousal abuse, and all manner of gender-based violence.

Now that was electrifying! To think that here were some folks who might actually accomplish something more than lamentation! I had to ask, in my best financial advisor voice, “How do you feed yourself and pay the rent?”

Contributions. Well, of course. Tax deductible? Certainly!

Having been solicited to death by a prominent and respected human rights organization, I looked up Tahirih’s financial statement to be sure that you weren’t overspending on fund raising. Then and now, the numbers made it clear that you would neither waste my money nor drive me crazy.

Tahirih has been on my list ever since.

Yes, I have a list. I give to my beloved Detroit Symphony Orchestra so that they will be there to play for us next year. I give to opera guilds to get first crack at tickets for crucially important performances we travel to attend. I give to the Detroit Institute of Arts so that all of us here can continue to visit Copley and Church and Rivera and Ryder and Cassatt and Still and Frankenthaler. I give to a Jewish food bank that helps Russian immigrants who have settled in our area. My religion also gets a reasonable contribution.

Then there is Tahirih. There are other organizations devoted to the advancement of women; I belong to several. I pay my dues but rarely more. What is it about Tahirih that makes me put them on my tickler and send them money like it’s a bill to be paid?

Because I know. Do They Hear You When You Cry? Yes. I do. And I hope you could hear me. Over the past year, as an outbreak of emotionally caused excruciating muscle spasms hit me day after day, I came to understand that I am a full blown mess of Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And that I always have been.

So I know. I know that the abuse I suffered early in my life is not so different from what Tahirih’s clients have suffered. The details vary with every story, but captivity is captivity, terror is terror, violence is violence, and damage is damage.

Tahirih protects women and girls from violence. Tahirih gives women and girls an opportunity to rebuild their lives. With all those attorneys working pro bono in this noble effort, I do think I can help pay the rent.

Give to Tahirih? Indeed, how could I not?

Become a LifeSaver

The legal cases of the women and girls we serve are complicated and time-intensive claims that require legal staff time, client calls, meetings, and court hearings. It costs Tahirih $5,000 to advocate for just one woman or girl fleeing gender-based violence. Yet, when you consider the alternative of a woman or girl being forced to return to face certain violence or even death, the cost of their protection seems like very little.

You can make a secure donation now as a one-time gift or in installments. For more information, please contact us at development@tahirih.org.

Since its inception in 1997, I have been involved with the Tahirih Justice Center largely due to my association with its founder, Layli Miller-Muro. I first met Layli through family connections 20 years ago. I knew her to be a very eloquent, intelligent, and passionate aspiring lawyer. I remember well when Layli was involved as a law student in the asylum case for Fauziya Kassindja, co-authored the book Do They Hear You When You Cry, and donated her portion of the proceeds to found the Tahirih Justice Center.

Fauziya’s case informed me of the ghastly practice of female genital mutilation, a practice of genital cutting which is inflicted upon girls and women in certain cultures in the world. In the early years, Tahirih would hold local fundraisers to raise awareness and support among the grassroots. We learned what our sisters in other parts of the world endured. We heard the real-life stories of their pain and suffering, both physically as well as emotionally, from these forced cuttings. And of their struggle, courage and determination to achieve freedom from the cruelties imposed upon them.

Over the years, Tahirih has expanded its services to clients fleeing from gender-based violence. Other programs include free legal representation to immigrant women who are “battered” and seeking permanent residence, protection for victims of trafficking and assistance for women in accessing desperately-needed social and medical services, including mental health services. Tahirih also embarked on a campaign to end exploitation by international marriage brokers by advocating for accountability of these agencies, seeking legislative change and litigation to protect women from abuse.

Looking back now on those early days, I felt good about my involvement and how it might make a difference. However over the past 11 years, the Tahirih Justice Center has far surpassed even my own idealistic expectations! It gives me such great pleasure and satisfaction to support an organization which is at once innovative and aspiring, as well as highly effective in executing its charge.

My deepest admiration goes out to the Tahirih Justice Center. I am grateful for the opportunity to be involved and to know you are making a huge difference in the lives of the women and girls you serve.

Become a LifeSaver

The legal cases of the women and girls we serve are complicated and time-intensive claims that require legal staff time, client calls, meetings, and court hearings. It costs Tahirih $5,000 to advocate for just one woman or girl fleeing gender-based violence. Yet, when you consider the alternative of a woman or girl being forced to return to face certain violence or even death, the cost of their protection seems like very little.

You can make a secure donation now as a one-time gift or in installments. For more information, please contact us at development@tahirih.org.

When I returned to the United States in 2005, I spoke to the Altria corporate contributions department about putting me in contact with a domestic violence-oriented organization in Washington, DC to see if there was a way that I could help alleviate the problem. Altria has been a significant contributor to Tahirih’s work for years, and given my particular desire to try to help women from other countries, the company put me in touch with Tahirih. I am now on the Board of Directors and am so proud to be associated with an organization full of such committed individuals who work every day to change the lives of the very courageous women who find their way to Tahirih.

Like many people, I contribute to several different charities throughout the year, each with a wonderful mission and great people working to achieve that mission. However, I single out Tahirih to receive my largest annual financial contribution for several reasons. First, I know first-hand as a Board member how every dollar is stretched to provide the best legal and social services to our clients. There is no end to the creativity of the staff in making every contribution count. Second, Tahirih is built on and infused with hope. While dealing with the most horrible and difficult situations that life can bring a person, our clients still have hope. Everyone on the staff shares the hope that we can, and do, make a difference in helping people build a new life. Third, I know that I could not personally do what the staff does every day in terms of dealing with the profound pain of our clients. But, I can financially contribute to enable them to do the important work that they do, that I cannot.

It is not often that one has the opportunity to “save a life.” I can’t think of anything more important and wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for anything.

Become a LifeSaver

The legal cases of the women and girls we serve are complicated and time-intensive claims that require legal staff time, client calls, meetings, and court hearings. It costs Tahirih $5,000 to advocate for just one woman or girl fleeing gender-based violence. Yet, when you consider the alternative of a woman or girl being forced to return to face certain violence or even death, the cost of their protection seems like very little.

You can make a secure donation now as a one-time gift or in installments. For more information, please contact us at development@tahirih.org.

In August of 1995 on my way to the United Nations NGO conference in Beijing I had the pleasure of meeting Layli Miller-Muro. I learned about her recent work on the Kasinga case (a well publicized asylum case that established national precedent, enabling women to receive asylum on the basis of gender-based persecution) and was impressed with Layli’s commitment to protecting her client’s well-being.

After Layli established the Tahirih Justice Center in 1997, my family continued following its work and remained committed to supporting its tireless efforts to represent women’s rights and its dedication to the equality of women and men through the empowerment of women.

Our support of Tahirih began solely based on knowing Layli and the trust and respect we had for her. As the work of the Tahirih Justice Center grew to offer protection to larger numbers of women, it was the level of integrity we found in the conduct of the work of Tahirih—the success rate, the annual reports, and the commitment of the Board members—which inspired us to continue and increase our support. We believe Tahirih stays true to its mission and offers an indispensable and rare contribution to a very vulnerable group of women and girls. We have seldom found the brilliant management and attention to detail in a nonprofit organization as is found in Tahirih. Each year, we have witnessed the impact of our loving contribution be multiplied by the extent of pro-bono work that is performed by volunteers. The success rate of Tahirih’s cases is a very befitting testimony to the commitment, dedication, and hard work of Tahirih’s brilliant staff.

Throughout our lives, we find passion and attachment to many causes, and for us, the services provided by Tahirih to vulnerable women and girls to empower them are at the core of one of our most profound beliefs. We believe it is a privilege to be among supporters of the Tahirih Justice Center.

Become a LifeSaver

The legal cases of the women and girls we serve are complicated and time-intensive claims that require legal staff time, client calls, meetings, and court hearings. It costs Tahirih $5,000 to advocate for just one woman or girl fleeing gender-based violence. Yet, when you consider the alternative of a woman or girl being forced to return to face certain violence or even death, the cost of their protection seems like very little.

You can make a secure donation now as a one-time gift or in installments. For more information, please contact us at development@tahirih.org.