June Newsletter
June blog from ElevateHer International — Empowering women to heal, grow, and thrive across the globe!
Letter From Our CEO
Dear Friends,
This may have been one of our busiest months to date. I don’t say that as though busyness is a badge of honor to prove our worthiness, but rather as a reflection of the growing need for the work we are doing together. Every conversation, training, healing circle, and partnership reminds us that women and communities are longing for spaces where healing, growth, and thriving are possible.
I cannot emphasize enough how much you are, and will continue to be, a vital part of how we move this mission forward. As the need grows, so does the need for resources, partners, advocates, and people willing to believe in healing alongside us. We are not simply building programs; we are building a movement. Will you partner with us?
One encouraging highlight from this month is that we successfully concluded our Leaders Trauma-Informed Cohort. The feedback from participants was deeply moving, and we received a 100% satisfaction rating from attendees. One participant shared, “This training has been so amazing. I loved each session. It’s made me more present and helped me truly create safe spaces for people to share. I’m even doing the grounding exercises with my children.”
This feedback reminds us why we continue this work. We are not only meeting a real and urgent need in communities, but we are also equipping people with practical tools that ripple outward into families, churches, friendships, and neighborhoods. Healing multiplies when people are given safe spaces, compassionate support, and quality resources.
We are in a crucial season of expanding our work to a new phase to create sustainability, and we need you. You have already been the engine behind our success and now we need you to go deeper with us. Everyone has something to contribute; whether through prayer, financial support, partnerships, advocacy, or sharing our work with others. The question is: what can you contribute to help women and communities heal, grow, and thrive?
As you continue reading below, we invite you to see what ElevateHer has been building this month and discover the many ways you can partner with us in this meaningful work.
With gratitude,
Dieula Previlon
CEO, ElevateHer International Ministries
Join Our Global Mission
For the past decade and a half, ElevateHer has been building, training, and equipping women and communities to heal from trauma and thrive. To date, we have served over 4,075 women, completed 115 healing circles, and facilitated leadership cohorts across five countries. The impact continues to be clear: 95% of participants report improved well-being and a greater sense of empowerment.
This May, we are looking toward our next chapter.
We are preparing for critical Global Healing and Leadership Training Trips designed to create sacred spaces for restoration, healing, and leadership development for women around the world. To make these trips a reality, we are raising support for the following initiatives:
Malaysia – Women Leaders Retreat
Goal: $6,000 (Fully Covered!)Kenya – Nairobi & Mombasa Trainings
Goal: $7,500Haiti – Healing Retreat for Women Navigating Generational Wounds
Goal: $5,000
Would you help us reach these goals? Your partnership helps create spaces where women can heal, lead, and bring restoration back into their communities.
Haitian Heritage Month
In May we celebrated Haitian Heritage Month and I had the honor of serving as a keynote speaker for a Haitian Flag Day event in my hometown, Irvington, NJ. One thing became clear throughout the gathering: the message of community care remains a consistent and urgent necessity within the Haitian community.
Healing does not happen in isolation. Communities flourish when people intentionally show up for one another with compassion, dignity, and responsibility. We are grateful for opportunities like these that allow us to continue speaking life, hope, and healing into our communities.
Haitian Radio Interview on Domestic Violence
This month, we sat down with Radio Bonne Nouvelle, a Haitian radio station reaching approximately 5,000 Haitian listeners throughout the Long Branch and Asbury Park communities in New Jersey.
Typically, listeners call in live to ask questions during the program. However, because of the sensitive nature of domestic violence, the host anticipated that many listeners would be too afraid to call and he was right. So, we prepared in advance by asking and answering the questions we believed listeners would want to ask if fear were not present.
Together, we discussed:
What domestic violence is and how it often begins
Red flags in relationships
The impact of violence on women, children, and entire communities
Why victims are often afraid to speak up or leave
The barriers that make leaving difficult
How leaders, friends, and families can support victims safely and compassionately
Needless to say, we had a great discussion that aired to the Haitian community. This important conversation was made possible through our partnership with Mercy Center.
Mother’s Day Tea Event: The Power of Sisterhood
This month, we were invited to speak at a Mother’s Day tea gathering at Asbury Park Haitian church of God focused on relationships and domestic violence. The room was a beautiful blend of women across generations, sharing stories, wisdom, and reflections together.
To be honest, I arrived with certain assumptions because of my knowledge of how Haitian women are taught to behave about these subjects. I expected many of the older women to remain quiet around the subject or perhaps encourage younger women to simply endure; to keep serving, keep praying, and stay silent while being harmed.
Instead, I was met with something powerful and hopeful.
The majority were speaking openly and courageously about the realities of violence and the importance of safety, dignity, and God’s desire for women. They gave younger women permission to leave harmful situations and reminded them that their lives matter.
One woman shared: “I would rather have my daughter alone and single than dead from domestic violence.”
What struck me most was this: I believe what gave these women the courage to speak so boldly was the presence of sisterhood. There is something transformative that happens when women realize they are not alone. We are often able to stand, speak, and choose differently when we know the community will stand with us.
This is why we’ve formed healing circles; this is why community care matters. Healing grows where safety, truth, and sisterhood are present.
This event was also made possible through our partnership with Mercy Center of NJ.
Gamaliel Network Partnership
One of our other partner organizations, Gamaliel Network, invited ElevateHer to speak during their Ntosake Circle for community organizers. During the session, we explored trauma and the ways our personal wounds can impact how we lead and advocate for change.
These women leaders are actively training to create transformation within their communities, and we believe advocacy work must also include healing work. Sustainable leadership requires emotionally healthy leaders who understand both personal and collective trauma.
Partnerships like these continue to fuel and strengthen our mission.
Upcoming June Events
June 18 — Webinar on Domestic Violence for Haitian & Black Pastors and Leaders
This virtual training is designed to equip Haitian and Black pastors, ministry leaders, and faith community leaders with trauma-informed tools to recognize, respond to, and address domestic violence within their congregations and communities.
The webinar will integrate:
Psychological insight
Faith-based reflection
Cultural awareness
Practical action steps for safer community care
To register use the link below.
June 27 — Philadelphia Community Workshop
Community Care is Resistance
This Philadelphia gathering will invite Black communities to reflect on what it means to intentionally care for one another through healing, identity, collective responsibility, and partnership.
Together, we will explore how communities can build pathways toward healing and forward progress by choosing collective care over isolation.
Lilly Grant Update
We are grateful to share that our grant proposal to the Lilly Endowment has officially been submitted.
Thank you to every person who prayed, encouraged, supported, and stood with us throughout the process. A special thanks goes out to our grant writing team without whom we could not have pulled it off. Now, we wait in prayer and hope for what comes next. Regardless of the outcome, we remain committed to the work of helping women and communities heal and transform.
Let’s meet…
I want to thank the many partners who have already met with me so together we can dream of the next phase of ElevateHer.
If you’d simply like to connect with me directly, I would absolutely love that. You can schedule time with me using my personal Google calendar link below.
We truly believe that this work grows through relationships and you are a vital part of that.
Short Grounding Exercise in an unsteady world
It is no secret that the world feels more and more unsteady. Here’s a short grounding exercise to help anchor you in the midst of unsteadiness.
When the world feels heavy and uncertain, ground yourself by connecting with nature. Let the sun touch your skin. Listen to the wind moving through the trees. Notice the birds still singing, the flowers still blooming, the sky still stretching wide above you. Nature reminds us that even in unstable seasons, beauty still exists and life is still unfolding.
As you breathe, remind your body that you are here, held, and grounded. God is still at work.
Inhale: God is within her…
Exhale: She will not fall.
Again.
Inhale: God is within her…
Exhale: She will not fall.
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