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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - February 10, 2009
Suzanne Jones Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
February 10, 2009

Somerville, Massachusetts Resident Wins Cash Award To Expand Program That Offers Yoga To Women In Life Transitions


(New York, NY, February 10, 2009) - Somerville, Massachusetts resident Suzanne Jones, 43, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Suzanne 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 fourth recipient of a Hello Tomorrow Fund award in Massachusetts 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. Suzanne will use her award to support yogaHOPE, a program that establishes rehabilitative yoga classes in residential facilities for underserved women affected by substance abuse homelessness, and domestic violence.

The practice of yoga has been shown to produce positive motivational change by helping women regain their center of energy, sense of satisfaction and stability. It also teaches mindfulness, impulse control, interpersonal relationship skills, discernment in decision-making, patience, and self acceptance. Because yoga helps to unite the mind, body, and spirit, it often helps to reduce low self-esteem and poor body image, and greatly improves a woman's sense of personal empowerment.

In 2005, Suzanne was affected by serious depression, and even contemplated suicide. When she was able to address her mental health, she began taking yoga, in combination with traditional therapy and medication. At the time, Suzanne says that it was yoga that motivated her to get out of bed and she credits the practice as saving her life. “I began to see the value I brought to the world, and made a total shift in how I perceived myself,” says Suzanne. When she felt healthier, Suzanne was reunited with her husband and two small children. When she reflected on the experience it occurred to Suzanne that if she were able to provide yoga to less fortunate women battling life’s challenges, she could improve their lives as well. It was that notion that sparked the idea for yogaHOPE.

Less than a year after her recovery, Suzanne created yogaHOPE as a not-for-profit with the mission to help women realize their worth in the world and empower them to make healthier choices for themselves and their families. What started as a small grassroots project with Suzanne as the only volunteer yoga teacher, has now become a fully functional organization with nearly 30 teachers and hundreds of volunteers. Suzanne started by bringing yogaHOPE to a local substance abuse center and could not believe the positive changes the women felt even after just one class. Presently, yogaHOPE is in a total of eight facilities that range from homeless shelters to treatment centers, in both Seattle and the Boston area. They have an extensive training program for yoga teachers that wish to practice with yogaHOPE and have relied on financial support from private donors and the community. Because the demand for yogaHOPE continues to grow in the Boston area, Suzanne has a hard time meeting the financial needs of the program. This is what inspired her to apply for the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund.

With help from the Hello Tomorrow Fund, Suzanne will be able to help women by providing yoga classes, free of charge, through various community centers and facilities. Because so many of the materials needed for the program are donated, the funds will go towards printing costs for the yoga pose workbooks and other materials needed for the classes. Suzanne will be able to continue her commitment of exposing less fortunate women to the benefits of yoga, therefore giving them the tools to make profound changes in their lives.

Suzanne’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. “A lot can be achieved through a program like this and the Avon award would go a long way toward bringing yoga to women who might otherwise never be exposed to it,” commented Sarah Ferguson on Suzanne’s proposal.

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