At The 1st 28 Foundation, we believe healing begins with the right tools and a community that refuses to let you face recovery alone.

The 1st 28 Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering survivors of sexual assault and trauma through tangible resources, career development, and community support. We were built on the belief that no matter what a survivor has been through, her light cannot be taken.

Our Founder and Executive Director knows that truth personally. As a survivor herself, she walked through the same doors that so many women walk through after trauma. She sat in hospitals. She visited crisis centers. She went to the police. At every stop, she was told that journaling could help her heal and even support her if she chose to pursue legal action. At every stop, no one had a journal to give her.

That gap became the foundation of this work.

She created The 1st 28 Foundation to ensure that no survivor leaves a hospital, crisis center, or police station without the tools to begin her healing journey. Her approach brings together lived experience, program development, and over 17 years of HR expertise to build resources that meet survivors where they are and help them move forward on their own terms.

Her guiding philosophy drives everything we do. No matter what she goes through, nothing will take her light. That belief is not just a personal conviction. It is the promise behind every program we build and every resource we offer.

How We Make a Difference

At The 1st 28 Foundation, we take a comprehensive approach to healing and empowerment. Our programs are designed to meet survivors wherever they are in their journey and provide the support they need to move forward. Every resource we offer is free, accessible, and built around the realities of women navigating life after trauma.

• Journal Distribution

  We partner with hospitals, crisis centers, and community organizations to place free, blank journals directly into the hands of survivors at the point of first contact. Writing is one of the most accessible and proven tools for processing trauma, and we believe every survivor deserves access to that tool from day one. Our distribution network is rooted in Delaware and growing through intentional community partnerships.

• Career Development and Coaching

  Rebuilding a professional life after trauma is one of the most common and least supported challenges survivors face. Through The Next Chapter, we offer HR-informed career coaching, resume support, interview preparation, and job readiness resources tailored to women navigating employment gaps, career pivots, and financial instability after hardship. Every resource is built on over 17 years of HR experience and designed to help women move forward on their own terms.

• Healing Resources and Community Support

  Through Can't Take My Light, we provide healing content, peer community, and practical resources for women in recovery. We offer free downloadable journal prompts and reflection tools that survivors can access from anywhere, at any time, with no barriers to entry. Our content is grounded in honesty, created for women who are tired of being told to simply move on, and designed to meet them in the reality of where they actually are.

• Community Outreach and Partnerships

  Healing does not happen in isolation. We build relationships with advocacy organizations, community groups, and mission-aligned partners to extend our reach and strengthen the network of support available to survivors. Through awareness efforts and community engagement, we work to foster a broader culture of understanding and compassion around trauma recovery.

Our Impact

Changing Lives, One Survivor at a Time

At The 1st 28 Foundation, impact is not measured by how many people hear about us. It is measured by what a survivor walks away with. Every journal distributed, every career coaching session completed, and every connection made is a concrete step toward a future where no woman has to navigate trauma recovery without support.

We are in our second year of operation and we are building with intention. Our work is focused, local, and grounded in what survivors actually need.

What We Are Working Toward

Our current goals center on deepening our reach within the communities we already serve and strengthening the infrastructure that makes our programs sustainable.

For the Journal Program, we are expanding our distribution network by establishing new partnerships with hospitals, crisis centers, and community organizations in Delaware. Our goal is to ensure that every partner location in our network has journals available at the point of first contact with a survivor.

For The Next Chapter, we are building out our career development resource library and coaching services to serve more women who are ready to rebuild their professional lives. Every resource we create is informed by over 17 years of HR experience and designed for women navigating real barriers to employment.

For Can't Take My Light, we are growing our community of women in recovery by providing consistent, honest, and practical healing content and peer connection opportunities.

Building the Foundation for Long-Term Impact

We are actively pursuing grant funding and community partnerships that will allow us to scale our programs responsibly. We track our reach, gather feedback from the communities we serve, and use what we learn to continuously improve what we offer.

Our work is not about numbers on a page. It is about what happens when a woman who felt completely alone realizes there is a community that built something specifically for her.

Our Vision for the Future:

We envision a world where every survivor of sexual assault and trauma, regardless of background or circumstance, has immediate access to the tools, support, and community needed to begin healing. Recovery is not a linear process and it is not the same for every woman. We are committed to meeting survivors wherever they are in their journey, with resources that are accessible, culturally sensitive, and built around real lives.

At The 1st 28 Foundation, we believe that lasting change begins with connection. Through partnerships with hospitals, crisis centers, advocacy organizations, and community groups, we work to close the gaps in survivor support and ensure that no woman reaches out for help only to be sent away empty-handed. Through career development, healing resources, and peer community, we equip survivors to move from surviving to rebuilding, with confidence and on their own terms.

We are committed to raising awareness about the unique challenges survivors face and to growing a broader culture of understanding, compassion, and accountability around trauma recovery. Our vision reaches beyond individual healing. We are building something that creates a ripple effect, one survivor, one community, one partnership at a time.

We are driven by the belief that no woman should navigate recovery alone. With the support of our partners, donors, and community, we are working toward a future where every survivor has the opportunity to heal, grow, and reclaim her light.