We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cynthia R Bennett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cynthia R, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform, and we think there is so many folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
My purpose came from pain and pressure. When I was younger, I felt that I would be assisting women who were in traumatic situations. But I wasn’t sure how that could be, seeing that I was sheltered growing up and had not experienced anything. But further along my path, I experienced date rape as a teenager, I survived a relationship filled with domestic violence as a young adult I buried both parents and six siblings within a span of ten years; my purpose was unfolding through the road, detours and path I was traveling.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
As the CEO/Founder of JADASA (Journey Against Domestic And Sexual Abuse); this non-profit advocacy agency started in June 2002 to combat domestic abuse, out of my kitchen with encouragement letters to women in the city. This transitioned across ten states monthly, and consecutively for ten years, resulting in over 24,000 distributed newsletters. Today, the organization provides direct services to domestic abuse survivors and their children, spearhead group presentations, and creates domestic and sexual violence preventive and interventive curricula for grades K 12. We partner with many faith-based institutions, providing workshops, awareness, and referral services to leaders and laypeople as a resource to their congregation and community. Our organization is involved heavily with community outreach initiatives, collaborating with many communities, schools, and civic, and commercial businesses to raise awareness through our JADASA Community Outreach Against Abuse; Dignity Drive toiletry give-away; JADASA Joy Christmas Toys Outreach program; and social media podcast, called JADASA LiVE on Facebook, YouTube and Blogtalk radio. This latest initiative was started during the COVID pandemic; and the platform continues to provide resources, and safety measures for clients and their families who were quarantined with their abusers. The podcast has since reached over 20,000 viewers. We continue to look for innovative ways to combat this epidemic and provide much-needed services to survivors of abuse and the community.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that were and still are most impactful in my journey are having a prayer life, determination, and discipline. Having these qualities will assist you in every area of life. A the say goes, ‘life is not fair’, everything does not go the way we want, but how we ‘bounce back’ and view obstacles will keep dreams alive and motivations going, even when you feel depleted. I have learned on this journey that when you feel like giving up on your dreams; and there are times you will feel that way; the ‘dream’ will not give up on you. I know that statement has probably got some readers thinking what does she mean? When you say no, I am not going to do it anymore; you will get phone calls for help, you will see billboard signs as reminders, you will be awakened in dreams, you will watch a movie and a commercial will come up to remind you of your dream; and what you should be doing’ is what I mean by my statement.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did was give me life and be living examples. They showed me what integrity looked like; what faithfulness and endurance looked like. They grew up in an era where they didn’t have the opportunities, we have today but worked hard for what they wanted; exercised their faith in God to see them through, and were determined to obtain the things in life for them and their children. They were the BEST parents a girl could ask for and I wish they could see what is unfolding in my life today! I hope they would be proud!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jadasa.org
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