COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – TESSA’s annual fundraiser, Pasta in the Park, is back… and the need for unrestricted funds is vital within the organization. The event takes place on Saturday, August 24th, at 6 p.m. on the Myron Statton Home campus. This year’s funding towards TESSA is important for many reasons.
“We’re continuing to see decreases in the funding that we’re receiving from the federal level, which is a large funder of ours,” Anne Markley, the CEO explained. “With that, is coupled with an increase in the need for our services.”
The CEO says the increase in services, is nationwide, and the number started to go up in 2020, around when Covid made headlines.
“We did start seeing a lot more people reaching out for services, and that’s really continued on a steady path upward,” Markley said. “I do think that our community is growing as well.”
The money raised at the fundraiser goes towards different services TESSA provides to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, etc. It supports their safehouse, clinical programs involving counseling, their housing program, along with the youth and children’s program. As victims walk through the door, TESSA’s services are free of charge.
“We recognize how difficult it is to recognize what’s going on within you or within your relationship,” Markley said. “This is someone that you love, and taking that step of reaching out to someone is frightening. It can also be very dangerous. And so, I think for individuals to know that TESSA is a safe place, we’re confidential, anything you come to us with is confidential. You’re going to be able to come into our doors and be believed. And for so many people, that’s what they need, is that that one person to be able to say, ‘I understand, and I know what you’re going through, and it’s going to be okay.’”
Anne Markley, herself, knew she wanted to create an impact within the community, after seeing a friend in high school go through an abusive relationship.
“I grew up in Colorado Springs, for the most part, went to a local high school here, and I had a friend that was in a really unhealthy abusive relationship, and at the time, we were not receiving the education to understand those signs,” Markley explained. “I got involved with TESSA, first as the Chair of Pasta in the Park, then moved on to the Board of Directors, and five years ago, stepped into this role. And so, I really feel like my journey has come full circle in having been privy to that as a teenager, and then seeing the ways that I could have impact in our community and help other people that are experiencing that as well.”
For TESSA, today is about everyone being able to play a part in moving victims… to survivors.
Click here to donate to TESSA or participate in the event’s silent auction.
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