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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - January 20, 2009
Jill Cermele Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
January 20, 2009

Mountain Lakes, New Jersey Resident Wins Cash Award To Provide Self Defense And Personal Safety Classes To Girls


(New York, NY, January 20, 2009) - Mountain Lakes, New Jersey resident Jill Cermele, 38, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Jill 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 seventh recipient of a Hello Tomorrow Fund award in New Jersey since the program launched in 2007, and was selected by an expanded panel of judges that includes Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, and actress Phylicia Rashad. Jill will use her award to provide self defense and personal safety instruction, using the Prepare, Inc. IMPACT® curriculum, to girls who participate in the Youth Development Program at the Morristown Neighborhood House.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, there were 272,350 sexual assaults in 2006. Further statistics offered from RAINN (Rape, Assault and Incest National Network) indicate that every two minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. Those are staggering statistics that Jill is hoping to help reduce with self defense and personal safety courses that teach women how to prevent and thwart a sexual assault once a victim is attacked.

Jill is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Drew University, and former clinician, whose focus is gender violence against women. She has counseled girls and women who have survived rape, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence and uses those experiences to help dictate her teaching, both in the classroom, and out. When Jill’s friend wanted her to take a self defense course a few years back, she went with much hesitation, but ultimately, the experience changed her life. Jill was astounded by the information she received and power she felt both mentally and physically by knowing how to defend herself from an attack, even after it already started. Jill began working with Prepare, Inc. in their New York studio and became enchanted with their methods of teaching self defense, later bringing them to Drew University. Prepare’s IMPACT® Personal Safety curriculum uses adrenal state training, where students are put in simulated assault scenarios, so they can feel how their body reacts when under duress and learn to fight when in that adrenalized state. Prepare’s training counters the common myth that you shouldn’t fight back during an attack because that would make the crime worse; in fact, the data indicates that fighting back reduces the likelihood that a sexual assault will be completed.

When Jill was contacted by the Morristown Neighborhood House in August, she was impressed with the organization and their commitment to empowering their community. This gave Jill the idea to bring the self defense course to Neighborhood House so she can reach girls at a young age. The challenge was finding the funds to pay for the course, which inspired her to apply for the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award.

With help from the Hello Tomorrow Fund, Jill will be able to help teach a 16-hour Prepare program for up to 16 young girls, where the funds will pay for the instructors from Prepare Inc. to teach their IMPACT® Personal Safety curriculum. She will donate her time and use the existing space at the Morristown Neighborhood House. Now Jill will be able to keep women safer by teaching them the skills that will help to facilitate their physical and psychological well-being, self esteem and future success.

Jill’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. “Fear leaves women vulnerable and places obstacles towards happiness and personal growth,” commented Sarah Ferguson on Jill’s proposal. “Self defense may give women confidence and the tools to defend themselves and help alleviate some fear.”

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