Cara Mcclain

FreeFrom is a grassroots nonprofit organization in the US that is dedicated to helping survivors to achieve economic justice and long-term financial stability. 1 in 4 women in the US will experience severe domestic violence in their lifetime and the number one obstacle survivors face in rebuilding their lives is financial insecurity. For this reason, domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness among women and children in the US. It is incredibly expensive to be a survivor of domestic violence. In fact, domestic violence costs an estimated $8.3Bn annually in the US. FreeFrom wants to start putting that financial burden back where it belongs, on the abuser, by helping survivors to access the civil justice system and sue their abusers for compensation. We will pair survivors across the country with attorneys whom we will train and support so that they can provide their clients with first class representation. To supplement our legal services, we will seek to implement state by state policy reforms to make the civil justice system more accessible for survivors of domestic violence. Our goal with this program is to change the paradigm, holding abusers financially accountable for their actions and preventing survivors from being indefinitely saddled with the cost of being abused. 60% of survivors lose their job as a result of the abuse, if they are allowed to work at all, and it is incredibly difficult for them to find new employment under these circumstances. We will take survivors with a strong business plan through a 12 month incubation program in which we will provide a full suite of services including financial training, legal services, access to childcare and start up funding. In return for this support, these survivor-entrepreneurs pledge to hire survivors as employees as their businesses grow. Our goal with this program is to help survivors to build financial independence, community and confidence through entrepreneurship and employment.