MOSAIC (supporting Mothers Of Sexually Abused Infants & Children)

My name is Sarah and unfortunately I know all too well how seemingly impossible and isolating the journey, from discovery to sentencing, can be for the mothers and whanau of sexually abused children. My goal is to bring real change and support from the very beginning and to follow through beyond where people think it all ends.

I am appealing for help to establish this sorely needed support system. My goal is to be able to offer experienced support people through every stage of the process, to retain professionals who can offer their expertise and services to aid our mothers to avoid the red tape and restrictions of ACC claims and to support these suffering families by easing the daily burden by providing home cooked, freezable meals, kids lunches, providing food and essentials as needed, carrying out errunds and chores, support when liasing with detectives or during court, contacting other organisazions as they are needed to ensure these families are at no point left unsupported in any way which is currently happening daily in NZ, so these mothers can focus on their families and the battle ahead.

In addition, MOSAIC will not stop there, but aims to work with local authorities to implement education for children AND their parents, to hold informative lectures and presentations to groups from various economic, religious, racial and sexually oriented backgrounds. No stone will be left unturned. We aim to implement programs for children of abuse that will move them forward, not drag them back through their abuse, allowing and encouraging them to flourish as strong, confident individuals through various artistic and sporting ventures. Abuse children will not be who they become! They are warriors!

We also aim to be the first line responders for those wanting to speak up in a safe environment, if they are uncomfortable or afraid of reaching out directly to NZ police..we will support them and make the call for them, in addition to providing a neutral and calm setting for making their initial contact with the appropriate agencies, whom we aim to work very closely with.

Initially MOSAIC will cover Hamilton city and its surrounding suburbs, but within the next 5 years I really hope that we will be in a position to support Mothers all over the North island of New Zealand and the South Island shortly after. Ideally I don't want to stop there, as tragically, there is still the same need all over the world.

I will be registering MOSAIC as a charitable organization, so initial funds will go toward retaining a lawyer to file on my behalf. Thereafter, funds will be used to secure a brand, office space with kitchen and all relevant permits needed, initial office and kitchen supplies, volunteer training, retaining an accountant, funding food and essentials needed to support our clients and their immediate family, as well as marketing, advertising and continuing fundraising events. Our donations will be transparent, our doners will be able to see where our donations are being implemented so there is no blind donating. These reports Wil be available on our Facebook page periodically.

The services I hope to provide will not end at sentencing, but we will continue to support the mothers and families involved for as long as they need us to so that they can can begin to heal in a more supported capacity than I, and so many like me, were able to. We will be their lifeline!

MOSAIC will offer a personal, tailored, volunteer based support system that is just not available currently whatsoever and is so sorely needed. We will work under extremely sensitive, emotional and private conditions but I aim to appeal for volunteer support from people who have personally been touched by this tragedy in their own lives and have healed, so that we can bring an understanding and hope that you simply cannot learn in a classroom or from books, but I cannot do so without your help! "It takes a village" means more now than ever before.

Any funds raised that cannot be used towards MOSAIC, for whatever reason, will be evenly split and donated to both "women's refuge" and "kids in need Waikato". Two charities that do the most amazing work and that I hold close to my heart.