"Let all that you do be done in LOVE."

~1 Corinthians 16:14

This month, we launched “Bloom on the Inside”, an in-jail program offering assessments as well as individual and group psychoeducational programming in Lehigh Valley Jail and to provide safe housing for women leaving prison.

“Many of the women incarcerated in Lehigh County Jail are trafficking victims. They have the lived experience of trading sex for survival and are often misidentified as criminals by law enforcement agencies,” said Carol Andersen, CEO of Bloom for Women. “Women struggling to survive on the streets of Lehigh County find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty and imprisonment, unable to gain and maintain employment due to criminal histories and addictions. Multiple arrests and incarcerations of these victims place a huge financial burden on the criminal justice and social service systems.”

Women returning to society from incarceration face many daunting and complex challenges, including: unemployment, housing, addiction, mental illness, transportation, family reunification, childcare, parenting, and poor physical health. “Bloom on the Inside” will inform and educate these women on topics including identification and prevention of exploitation, codependency and healthy relationships, conflict resolution, and introduction to life skills.

Andersen continues, “‘Bloom on the Inside’ will help identify those victims and provide them with a safe place and the time to heal when they are released from prison. Our two-year residential program helps women break the cycle by providing safe housing, access to healthcare, and vocational training free of charge; giving these women the opportunity to once again become contributing members of society and live a life of freedom and meaning.”

Bloom was recently awarded a grant from the Safe House Project, an organization whose mission it is to increase survivor identification beyond one percent through education, provide emergency services and placement to all survivors, and ensure every survivor can access quality, safe housing and holistic care. Bloom is partnering with Pinebrook Family Answers and Lehigh County Jail to work within the prison directly supporting incarcerated/justice-impacted individuals.

This month, Bloom hired Sheniqua Mitchell, MSW as Outreach Manager to handle outreach initiatives directly to survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation in the Lehigh Valley; support the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and local law enforcement on sting operations and investigations; and coordinate community and prevention education activities around the topic of human trafficking throughout the Lehigh Valley. 

2023 was a year of significant growth for Bloom! We made so much progress on the programs and services offered to women survivors and their children in our five homes, as well as our two social enterprises My Sister's Closet and Bloom Creative Studio.

We couldn't have done it without our commUNITY! Thank YOU! We have a lot more to do! Let's see what kind of impact we can make in 2024!

Bloom is the beneficiary for this year’s Lehigh Valley Auto Show VIP Gala on March 20! This will be a fantastic, fun-filled night with outstanding entertainment, delicious food and an entire show preview throughout the three main venues.

Tickets are available and if you purchase one, please select Bloom in the drop down menu.

Save the Dates!

June 1, 2024

Highmark Walk

DeSales University

Bloom is a Participating Non-profit

September

Bloom for Women

Celebration

November 2-8, 2024

Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking

Awareness Week

Numerous Events

December 2024

DIY Holiday

Centerpiece Workshop

Regular Monthly Prayer Meetings

The sessions will now take place on Zoom from

12:00-1:00 p.m. the second Monday of the month:

February 12, March 11, April 8, May 13, and so on.  

If you are interested in joining us for prayer,

please email us.

Tara Tolson of the Justice Initiatives Ministry at Faith Church

In 2018, Tara Tolson joined a new ministry at Faith Church in Allentown called Justice Initiatives, whose goal was/is to provide prayer and support to ministries that promote human trafficking awareness, prevention and restoration to women and children.

In furtherance of that mission, Tara and her team contacted Bloom (then Truth for Women) to see how they could provide support and encouragement to our staff and residents. The team began to receive prayer requests from one of Bloom for Women’s then board members, Maureen O’Meara, and thereafter networked with Bloom staff at an event the Justice Initiative hosted in 2019 during Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness Week.

Those efforts evolved into Tara’s team providing weekly Bible study with interested residents at Bloom’s Heather House, which was then a 90-day emergency shelter. “We did this for about one and a half years, from mid-2020 through early 2022, when Heather House closed temporarily,” Tara explained. “When it re-opened as a 2-year residential program, we offered rides to interested residents to Faith Church on Sunday mornings; we brought ingredients and a recipe to make dinner with residents every other week. In 2023, we transitioned to serving at Mountain Laurel House, which was closer in proximity to us, and have been recently bringing dinner a few times a month to eat and visit with the moms and children. We provide a bit of childcare at the house if a mom wants to take a shower or get something else done. I have enjoyed hosting residents and their children in my home for dinner and have provided occasional childcare while a mom attended weekly meetings.”

Give Back by Donating Stocks

Bloom is pleased to announce that stock donations are a way for you to give!

Gifts of appreciated stock, bonds or mutual fund shares are a simple way to support our mission.

There are many benefits to donating long-term appreciated stock which has been held for more than 12 months:

• You can claim a charitable deduction for the fair market value of long-term appreciated stock (up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income).
• You avoid capital gains that you would otherwise pay if you sold the stock.
• You can make a larger gift than if you sold the securities and donated the net proceeds.
• It may help to lower federal income tax for the current tax year.

My Sister's Closet

Join our VIP Shopper Club and take advantage of special perks from coupons, invites to private shopping events to first looks at new items and exclusive sales! Click here to learn more.

VIP Private Shopping Event

March 2nd

9 a.m. - 11 a.m.

First look for Spring/Summer Clothing

February Sales!

Now thru February 22

50% off our fall/winter collection

(excludes Bloom tops)

February 23 - 29

Additional markdowns on fall/winter items

March 1 - Closing at 2:00 p.m.

We will be closing early to switch our inventory over to spring and summer clothing.

Volunteers Needed!

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings.

Donations are Paused!

As of February 12, we have paused accepting donations. We will be accepting spring and summer clothing soon!

Please check our website for details on what we will and will not accept.

Bloom Creative Studio & Gift Shop has been busy this past month and here are several highlights. 

Participants in our program have been painting colorful children's rocking chairs, beading bracelets, printing Bloom sweatshirts, all to be sold in our Gift Shop. We put up a new window display, did some rearranging in our Gift Shop and reorganizing in the Studio.

We had our first ever Slime Birthday Party and it was a great success! I’m sure the success was do to all the practicing we did to get the right recipe. You might call us expert Slime makers.

We added a new class, Wood Burning and continue to offer pottery classes either hand-building or on the wheel, painting with Cindy Lou, Kids Art, and open studio where you can choose from a wide variety of projects.

We are always open to receiving craft supplies, beads, buttons, glue, glitter, children’s rocking chairs, etc.

Please come and visit! 

Bloom is a faith-based non-profit organization with the mission of providing sanctuary and a continuum of care to heal, empower and employ women survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. As part of its mission, Bloom offers emergency response, a two-year residential program, pregnant survivor services and an independent living program in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. Bloom follows the model and is a sister community of the remarkably successful Thistle Farms Nashville program. In addition, the Bloom Creative Studio, located in Bangor, Pa., is a social enterprise to leverage art as a healing tool and provide employment opportunities for survivors. Bloom also has a women’s upscale, resale boutique, My Sister’s Closet, based in Bethlehem, Pa., providing employment opportunities for survivors, community volunteer opportunities, and financial support for the organization. 

610-866-5755

info@bloomforwomen.org

www.bloomforwomen.org