((PKG)) RESTORE DIGNITY JEWELRY
((TRT: 03:22))
((Topic Banner: Healing through Beauty))
((Reporter: Maxin Moskalkov))
((Camera: Andrey Degtyarev))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((Main characters: 3 female))
((NATS))
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
I started making jewelry a few years ago as a form of art therapy
for PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]. So, I was going
through re-exposure therapy and part of that therapy you have to
recall, kind of like, tough images. So, being surrounded by
beautiful gemstones, sparkle, other cultures, was really an
inspiration.
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
We decided to create a jewelry business because we wanted an
economy to support other survivors. Both me and Ellie are
survivors of sexual assault. So, we first decided to create the
jewelry business, but we wanted to have a non-profit behind it.
That's why, with Ann, we started Restore Dignity.
((NATS))
((Ann Clougherty, Ellie’s Mother & Executive Director,
Restore Dignity))
Before the jewelry company, we became pretty big activists in the
campus sexual assault space. So, after Ellie came home from
school, I got myself very educated on what happens to a person
who's been sexually assaulted and how does that impact their life.
And then we decided that we saw a void in a space of support
that was directly helping a student in real time while they're in
school.
((NATS))
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
That’s what Restore Dignity is. We're just strangers that have
your back. We're going to support you whatever it is you need. If
you need to change locations, get a meal plan because you lost
your job, you need tuition assistance, you need medical help, we
are there to help you.
((NATS))
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
Survivors will actually tell us, like, what their needs are. And then
within three weeks, we'll turn around the funds. So, I think from
this, like, D.C. Democratic empowering community, we've been
able to spread that message to New York, to California.
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
Throughout the whole world, actually.
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
London.
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity)) Yeah.
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
Yeah. And it's such a simple message, but everyone relates to it,
especially if you turn your focus away from the perpetrator and to
the survivor, and just say, “How can we rehabilitate this student?
How can we get them back on the path they were on?” I mean,
that's like one of the purest forms of justice and there's really
nothing stopping you.
((NATS))
((Ann Clougherty, Ellie’s Mother & Executive Director,
Restore Dignity))
As a parent, educate yourself on what power imbalance looks like
and what that power imbalance could be, whether it's a
relationship with a teacher, a coach, a boyfriend, and really
understand if your student, your child is experiencing a different
pattern of behavior than is normal, more than likely, they might
have experienced something that they don't want to talk about.
((NATS))
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
A symptom of PTSD is that you can't imagine the future, which
you can imagine every other symptom, from hypervigilance to
just, kind of like, intense emotions but just not being able to
imagine your future is one that, I think, is really debilitating.
Because how could you plan your career? How could you call a
friend and check in with someone? Like, it doesn't happen as
often.
((NATS))
((Ann Clougherty, Ellie’s Mother & Executive Director,
Restore Dignity))
That trauma puts us all in the same space. And that supporting a
person who's been sexually traumatized whether, you know, they
go to an Ivy League school or they are in a community college, it
doesn't matter to us. It's just that if you have been traumatized,
we want to support you.
((NATS))
((TRT: 03:22))
((Topic Banner: Healing through Beauty))
((Reporter: Maxin Moskalkov))
((Camera: Andrey Degtyarev))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((Main characters: 3 female))
((NATS))
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
I started making jewelry a few years ago as a form of art therapy
for PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]. So, I was going
through re-exposure therapy and part of that therapy you have to
recall, kind of like, tough images. So, being surrounded by
beautiful gemstones, sparkle, other cultures, was really an
inspiration.
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
We decided to create a jewelry business because we wanted an
economy to support other survivors. Both me and Ellie are
survivors of sexual assault. So, we first decided to create the
jewelry business, but we wanted to have a non-profit behind it.
That's why, with Ann, we started Restore Dignity.
((NATS))
((Ann Clougherty, Ellie’s Mother & Executive Director,
Restore Dignity))
Before the jewelry company, we became pretty big activists in the
campus sexual assault space. So, after Ellie came home from
school, I got myself very educated on what happens to a person
who's been sexually assaulted and how does that impact their life.
And then we decided that we saw a void in a space of support
that was directly helping a student in real time while they're in
school.
((NATS))
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
That’s what Restore Dignity is. We're just strangers that have
your back. We're going to support you whatever it is you need. If
you need to change locations, get a meal plan because you lost
your job, you need tuition assistance, you need medical help, we
are there to help you.
((NATS))
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
Survivors will actually tell us, like, what their needs are. And then
within three weeks, we'll turn around the funds. So, I think from
this, like, D.C. Democratic empowering community, we've been
able to spread that message to New York, to California.
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
Throughout the whole world, actually.
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
London.
((Kristen Malinowski, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity)) Yeah.
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
Yeah. And it's such a simple message, but everyone relates to it,
especially if you turn your focus away from the perpetrator and to
the survivor, and just say, “How can we rehabilitate this student?
How can we get them back on the path they were on?” I mean,
that's like one of the purest forms of justice and there's really
nothing stopping you.
((NATS))
((Ann Clougherty, Ellie’s Mother & Executive Director,
Restore Dignity))
As a parent, educate yourself on what power imbalance looks like
and what that power imbalance could be, whether it's a
relationship with a teacher, a coach, a boyfriend, and really
understand if your student, your child is experiencing a different
pattern of behavior than is normal, more than likely, they might
have experienced something that they don't want to talk about.
((NATS))
((Ellie Clougherty, Co-Founder, Restore Dignity))
A symptom of PTSD is that you can't imagine the future, which
you can imagine every other symptom, from hypervigilance to
just, kind of like, intense emotions but just not being able to
imagine your future is one that, I think, is really debilitating.
Because how could you plan your career? How could you call a
friend and check in with someone? Like, it doesn't happen as
often.
((NATS))
((Ann Clougherty, Ellie’s Mother & Executive Director,
Restore Dignity))
That trauma puts us all in the same space. And that supporting a
person who's been sexually traumatized whether, you know, they
go to an Ivy League school or they are in a community college, it
doesn't matter to us. It's just that if you have been traumatized,
we want to support you.
((NATS))
