Mary frances bowley biography template

Mary Frances Bowley opened Wellspring Living’s doors in as a safe house for women who were victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. When the first client, a year-old victim of sex trafficking, walked in the door, Bowley knew her work needed to extend far beyond that. “We realized immediately that a safe place was not going to be enough for her,” says Bowley of the survivor who had complex trauma and lacked work experience. Bowley realized that to fully help survivors, Wellspring would need to provide multiple layers of intervention. “It really built a foundation for how we were going to work for the next 20 years on providing comprehensive care, including therapy, life skills, education, career readiness, and just meeting people where they were,” says Bowley.

Atlanta was first declared a sex trafficking hub by the FBI in , and the industry accounts for $ million, according to a recent statement by Mayor Andre Dickens. In the two decades since Wellspring

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A Wellspring of Hope in Metro Atlanta

Nation of Neighbors℠ Grant Recipient

Back in , a group of women hailing from diverse communities across Metro Atlanta met to discuss how they might provide support for disenfranchised women in their communities. Over the course of their conversation, they all became more aware of the significant gaps in the services available to many of those who want, but can’t access, help. One participant, Mary Frances Bowley, decided to take action. Twenty years later, Mary Frances leads Wellspring Living, a thriving, multi-faceted organization that provides services for sex trafficking victims and at-risk women and girls and a recipient of a Nation of Neighbors^SM grant. “We are so blessed and thankful,” says Mary Frances, Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit. “We simply could not do the work we do without people like Royal Neighbors recognizing the need and participating with us.”

Wellspring Living began with the opening of a resident

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The White Umbrella: Walking with Survivors of Sex Trafficking, by Mary Frances Bowley

“As hard as I try, I can’t forget that first night. I was seven years old. I’d put on my Princess Ariel pajamas and brushed my teeth. I’d climbed into bed with my white stuffed pony, the one I always slept with, the one my dad had given me two years before when my parents split up. I knew my mom wouldn’t come to say good night because she was on a business trip. So it didn’t surprise me with Brad, my stepdad, came to my room instead.

But I was surprised, and scared, when he turned off the light and crawled under the covers with me. ‘Sheila, we’re going to play a game,’ he said. Only it wasn’t a game.” (21)

This true story began a cycle of sexual abuse for Sheila that haunted her until she ran away from home at the age of Alone and scared on the street, she was befriended by a man named Michael who offered her protection and a place to stay. That place to stay ended up being a prison, as Mich