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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - October 9, 2007
Deborah Senga Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
October 9, 2007

Parkville, Maryland Resident Wins Cash Award To Support Transitional Shelter For Pregnant Women In Crisis


(New York, NY, October 9, 2007) Parkville, Maryland resident Deborah Senga, 32, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Deborah was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. Deborah will apply her award towards The Hiding Place, a transitional shelter for young pregnant women in crisis that provides housing as well as parenting, life, and vocational training to enable them – and their children – to live healthier, safer, happier futures.

The Hiding Place, was established in 1986, and Deborah was named Director in 2006. The majority of the residents turn to the Hiding Place as a last resort, with nowhere left to go in their second trimester of pregnancy since most shelters will not accept pregnant women due to liability. Many of the women in residence, usually ages 18-25, come from at-risk backgrounds including sexual and physical abuse, poverty, homelessness, and addiction. Often they face impending motherhood alone, with partners absent or perhaps incarcerated. For these women, basic care for themselves is often a struggle; they are woefully ill-equipped to achieve healthy births or provide a safe home or future for their children.

Deborah recognized not only the problem at hand, but also the tremendous opportunity to help these women and play a key role in transforming their lives. So strongly is Deborah committed, upon appointment as director she and her family, including her husband and three children, moved from their comfortable home into a small apartment on site so that she could be more fully involved and serve as a “daily part of transforming the hearts and minds of today’s young mothers.”

The Hiding Place houses up to seven women at a time, each for a stay of approximately nine months, during which time they inhabit a structured, caring, familial environment and learn parenting skills. The women are offered compassionate care for themselves and their unborn children, including vitally important nutrition, prenatal medical care and counseling. They also have the opportunity to pursue education and vocational training to build safer, stronger, and more secure futures for themselves and their children. Since she joined The Hiding Place less than two years ago, Deborah estimates that they have improved the lives of more than 65 women. The care and resources provided to its residents extends beyond their stay; the experience enables many to transition out of the shelter as empowered, capable mothers, better able to sustain a bright future for themselves and their children. “Women who have had nowhere else to turn are given hope and a fresh start in life,” Deborah explains.

One key component to ensuring a healthy life for residents and their children is proper nutrition, and food is a major expense. Thanks to her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Deborah will be able to offset the cost of food for the year, supplementing in-kind donations made by local grocers and warehouses, and other donors’ contributions.

Deborah’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund fell under the category of “Community Service,” one of three areas the Fund supports. Her proposal met the criteria to clearly present unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and ultimately improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including Suze Orman, America’s most recognized expert on personal finance. “The applicant believes in this cause so much she actually moved not only herself, but also her family, out of a comfortable home into a two bedroom apartment...” noted Orman of Deborah’s proposal “...yet she considered it a privilege to do so. I like that and I like this proposal.”

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