Podcast 61 – Meghan Markle & Prince Harry donate a roof to a Dallas based women's shelter

Meghan and Harry have made a donation to replace the roof on the transitional housing unit called Annie’s House at Dallas based Genesis Women's Shelter.  Harry and Meghan are  literally helping to put a roof over the heads of women and children!

Established in 1984, Genesis’s mission is to provide safety, shelter, and support for women who have experienced domestic violence and raise awareness regarding its cause, prevalence and impact. 

Genesis Women’s Shelter was founded with a goal to not just help women, but to completely eradicate domestic violence.

In 1986 Genesis had a small 7-bedroomed shelter using a property that had been donated by the City of Dallas. By 1988 Genesis had already began building a new wing to their shelter and they started a 24-hour crisis hotline as well as counselling and parenting classes.

Genesis has continued to expand and grow as an organization year of year, both in terms of the number of women and children they help and also in terms of their services. They offer emergency and long-term housing, counselling,  education and legal advice. 

https://www.genesisshelter.org/   According to their website, in 2020 they serviced 3,700 women and children.

Genesis describe the women who come to them as often being in a fight for their life. Shelter staff aim to walk alongside each woman and tell her she is not alone and that she deserves to feel safe and happy.

On February the 13th the shelter suffered significant structural damage to their emergency shelter. The electromagnetic locks on their buildings stopped working when power was lost meaning the building was no longer safe and secure. Genesis tweeted that for the first time in 35+ years of operating that their emergency shelter and transitional housing had to be completely shut down due to burst pipes and power loss. The shut down led to the evacuation of 87 women and children. 

The shelter hit reached out to their supporters through their social media accounts, asking for donations. Donations came in quickly in response from private individuals and from organizations, from all across America ad beyond. 

The shelter got themselves back operating in an amazingly short period of time. Their thrift shop was reopened first. One week after the storm, Genesis had their emergency shelter back open and beds available from women and children.

Meghan has always supporting organizations that protect women and children and which advocate for the rights of women.

The CEO of Genesis praised Harry and Meghan for their generosity, saying in a statement, "Not only will this gift provide for our critical needs, it shines an international spotlight on violence against women and children, letting survivors know that they are not alone.”

Keep looking out for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry and Archie.

And keep checking out my blog at www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com 

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/