Founder/Artist/Executive Director: Vickie Florschuetz

Many people ask me why I started Bravery Project and usually assume it's because I was a victim of domestic violence. The truth is that I am just an ordinary person who was shocked at my own ignorance about the issues. Like many people, I believed that domestic abuse was a rare and private crisis of physical violence between a husband and a wife who were lower class folks with less education. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Through taking the time to learn from those who had actually been there, I discovered that domestic abuse is more common than breast cancer, yet very little effort is put into awareness campaigns and action plans. I learned that male, elderly, and disabled victims are continuously marginalized in our society because most focus is put on only specific groups. Additionally, you and I pay for the residual problems of domestic abuse and homicide in the BILLIONS of tax dollars a year in health care, unemployment insurance, victim services, law enforcement, and child assistance, etc.

So why did I begin Bravery Project? Because domestic abuse is still society's dark secret. It masquerades under many names: child abuse, assault and battery, spousal rape, power and control, homicide, animal cruelty, murder-suicide, human trafficking, etc. We read or hear about it in the news daily. Regardless of the title, it is a human and animal rights issue that affects all of us, whether it touches us personally or covertly through the economic and social burdens it places on communities. Furthermore, victims continue to be inaccurately blamed because we don't really understand thier situations. We tell them to leave without explaining the tools available to help them recover.

It is my hope that Bravery Project will inspire people to think differently about domestic abuse by changing thier beliefs, breaking that uncomfortable silence by talking about it, and learning how to respond and get involved. After all, every survivor has claimed that someone cared enough to help him/her escape and get the resources needed toward permanent freedom. If not you and me, then who?

Portraits speak a universal language and are a wonderful way to capture a personality through expression and customization that can't be done with a camera. The therapeutic portrait process I developed for Bravery Project has proven to be a wonderful healing experience for survivors. Together we produce a beautiful and positive message of triumph over hardship. To them the experience is a release of shame and voice of power. To me, the experience is knowledge and motivation. Through my work with Bravery Project®, I want to bring the message of knowledge to action and hope and healing to the world.

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