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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - September 30, 2008
Tiffany Speas Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
September 30, 2008

Gloucester, Virginia Resident Wins Cash Award To Create Technology Center For Women's Shelter


(New York, NY, September 30, 2008) - Gloucester, Virginia resident Tiffany Speas, 30, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Tiffany 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. She is the third recipient of a Hello Tomorrow Fund award in Virginia since the program launched in 2007, and was selected by a newly expanded panel of judges that now includes Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York and actress Phylicia Rashad. Tiffany will use her award to create a technology center for domestic and sexual violence survivors as well as homeless women who reside in the Laurel Shelter, Inc. emergency center

According to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey, nearly one-third of American women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. In this small community, Laurel Shelter is the only resource for women and their children, who are victims of sexual and physical violence as well as homelessness in Gloucester, King and Queen, King William, Mathews, and Middlesex counties. On average, Laurel Shelter’s emergency center serves approximately 15 – 25 women and children per week, and that number continues to grow. Laurel Shelter offers a safe place to live, advocacy, education and emotional counsel to survivors as well as legal support and community education to foster awareness, prevention, and identification of victims. One key component missing in the scope of services is access to computers in the privacy and safety of the shelter for online classes, employment opportunities, and permanent housing options.

Technology plays a vital role in the age we live in. The Internet offers resources such as job training, employment opportunities, housing options and an infinite amount of information about virtually any topic. Many of the residents in the Laurel Shelter are already homeless or displaced from their homes as a result of dangerous living conditions. For many, Laurel Shelter is the only place they feel safe, and therefore, rarely leave until they have secured a permanent living situation for themselves and their families. Without computer access, many of the residents are virtually cut off from society and find it increasingly difficult to gain employment or permanent housing without it. Currently, the shelter has one antiquated computer that was donated, but only has access to dial up Internet service, which takes three times as long to navigate.

Tiffany served in the United States Military for seven years and upon leaving, was looking for a job she could feel passionate about. As a child, Tiffany recalls the hard times her family faced as her mother was a victim of domestic violence. When her mother finally fled her abusive situation when Tiffany was a small child, they received tremendous support by the community. Since then, Tiffany has always dreamed of paying that kindness forward in her everyday life, so when the opportunity came up to work at Laurel Shelter full time, she jumped at the chance.

With support of the Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Tiffany will be able to create a technology center with four workstations, fully equipped with high speed Internet. She already has volunteers who offered to teach computer literacy classes for those who need it. Offering computers to these women will give them the chance to show their children a better life – one free from abuse and filled with endless possibilities for happiness and success.

Tiffany’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund met the criteria of clearly presenting 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 personal finance expert Suze Orman, actress Phylicia Rashad, Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, and experts in business and grantmaking. “Empowering women by teaching them computer skills and allowing space for online classes is a fabulous idea,” praised judge Lynn Stekas of Tiffany’s proposal. “Doing all this for domestic violence survivors is even more critical.”

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