Freedom Gallery Event, an art exhibition and auction, presented by Change Her World Together in support of women and children impacted by the sex trade in India, Friday, May 30, 7-10 p.m. at the Café for Contemporary Art in North Vancouver. Tickets: $25 includes live music, food and drink. changeherworldtogether. org
Zoey Ann Stimpson and Meagan Corbett hope community members will join them in an upcoming celebration of freedom, hoping those in attendance walk away inspired to take action to help women around the world in need.
The best friends are behind Change Her World Together, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness to help make positive change and be a voice for oppressed women and children both locally and internationally.
Stimpson and Corbett founded the organization in 2012, related to their experiences fundraising for and then travelling to India in 2013 to work with a variety of humanitarian projects focused on serving women and children impacted by the sex trade. The month-long trip was a collaboration with Off the Mat Into the World.
The duo is currently looking to grow their organization.
"The overall mission is turning oppression into opportunity for women and children. Because the spectrum is so broad in that, raising opportunity, each year we decided to come up with a different focus," says Stimpson, a former North Shore resident and yoga teacher, who just moved to Squamish. "Last year was about raising funds and raising awareness. This year is about connecting with our community locally and inspiring the community to get involved in something greater and then accessing more local projects."
As a starting point, they're gathering the local community at an upcoming Freedom Gallery Event, Friday, May 30 at Lower Lonsdale's Café for Contemporary Art.
They plan to showcase the work and impact of the organization thus far.
"With that, we're hoping to develop more momentum, bring on more ambassadors to get involved in Change Her World so it becomes more sustainable for us, and then develop partnerships locally," says Stimpson.
The Freedom Gallery Event will feature live music as well as the display and auction of approximately 20 works by local artists ages eight and up. "We've asked all of the artists to create a piece that represents freedom in their eyes," says Corbett, a North Vancouver resident. The art works will be on display until May 30.
Proceeds will support the Sonagachi Drop In Centre in the red light district of Calcutta, India, serving women working in the sex trade and their children, through the Women's Interlink Foundation. "They are basically a safe haven for the children to go while their mothers are working," says Corbett. The centre offers education and dance-movement therapy programs, as well as attends to the children's health and wellness needs.
"This night is about celebrating our freedom. Part of our mission is recognizing that and being able to celebrate it," says Stimpson. "Sometimes when you think about something like the sex trade it's really daunting and it's horrifying so no one really talks about it. But what we want this evening to. . . celebrate (is) what we do have. Because this is the opportunity we're given and there's no point in dimming that opportunity if we can come together and create a powerful community and within that grow something and create something bigger that can help something afar."
Change Her World Together has also issued a 2014 community challenge, encouraging community members to launch their own fundraising campaign for a cause close to their hearts, offering a how-to guide on their website, changeherworldtogether.org.
"We. .. want to be a form of support," says Corbett.
In addition, Stimpson and Corbett invite interested community members to come on board with their ambassador program.
"People that want to get involved, they feel like they have some extra time or skills that they want to contribute, they can reach out to us as well to help grow the army," says Stimpson.
