The nonprofit Purpose Filled Purse program, under the umbrella organization Fresh Start Learning Inc. (4242 W. North Ave.), provides purses filled with personal care items and hand-written letters of love and encouragement to women who may have fallen victim to human trafficking (anyone under the age of 17 that’s an exchange for sex for money), prostitution, domestic violence, homelessness and helplessness. Fresh Start has serviced upwards of 700 people through the Purpose Filled Purse program and its other training opportunities.
Nancy Yarbrough, executive director and founder of Fresh Start Learning and the Purpose Filled Purse program, said this is the organization’s second full year of engaging with women in areas where they’re likely to be trafficked. “What we do is put our hand-written letter of love in the purse and a card that has our number,” Yarbrough says. “It’s a way to be able to start a conversation. Those ladies call that card to say they need some more PCI (personal care items) and then we start offering other things and resources. When they’re ready, they come. That is our offering toward women for a way out.”
One of the programs offered includes the “I Am a Survivor Women’s Group,” run in partnership with and held at Project RETURN (2821 N. Fourth St., Suite 202), which offers free Monday sessions from 5:30-7 p.m. for the benefit of encouraging and inspiring all women. Topics include awareness, prevention, survival, healing, and nutrition and holistic information.
The organization also offers informational forums on human trafficking for organizations, agencies, churches, schools and private businesses, covering how to overcome personal struggles and barriers and utilize resources for a meaningful, successful life. Yarbrough is seeking to create more partnerships. “We want to have a healthy environment for our youth and families. Healthy collaborations are going to be huge,” she says. “I couldn’t do this alone. It takes every collaborative partner, every person that has a heart, everybody that’s a soldier to the purpose filled purse.”
Donations of purses and personal care items are important and the Purpose Filled Purse Project is always in need of these items. They also need volunteers for sorting supplies and putting together purses. For more information about volunteering, donating, partnerships or training, call 414-544-2649 or visit freshstartlearning.com.
