First it was Heather Spencer. She had already given her boyfriend a second chance after he severely beat her with a mallet in 2007, requiring her to get 57 staples in her head. In September of that year, Heather would be gruesomely raped and murdered by the same boyfriend.
A few months later in November 2007, it was Latasha Norman. The 20-year-old Jackson State student was murdered at the hands of her boyfriend. After stabbing Latasha, he drove around with her body in the trunk of his car for several days before dumping her in a wooded area.
These two isolated yet connected incidents were enough to get the attention of Eva Jones, a Jackson area healthcare worker. Though she had not experienced domestic violence, she felt the urging to do something to help women and girls avoid and escape the horrors of domestic violence.
Thus, the emergence of Butterflies by Grace Defined by Faith (BBGDF).
“The butterfly is the transition a woman will go through if she is a domestic violence victim. As she realizes her self-worth, she grows into a beautiful butterfly,” said board member Shavonne Osborne regarding the group’s name. “We built this by the grace of God and have faith that He would bring it to fruition.”
“God put it on my heart,” says Jones. “Nothing but God.” A humble leader and servant, Jones has led the nonprofit outreach ministry for 10 years. During that time, she and her fellow members have touched the lives of many victims of domestic violence as well as others who were in need of encouragement.
“Ms. Eva is a jewel of a person. It is something to see the passion and love she has for something that doesn’t affect her. She had a heartfelt yearning to bring something to the Jackson area after Latasha Norman and Heather Spencer,” said Osborne. Osborne lives in Atlanta, Georgia, but became part of BBGDF after doing some website and social media consulting for Jones. Having been a victim of domestic violence herself, Osborne felt led to be part of the organization.
“The focus is on domestic violence, sexual assault, bullying – anything that can remotely have an impact on children and women in the community,”Osborne said. “We don’t stop at domestic violence; we deal with other issues too.”
Among some of the ongoing endeavors of BBGDF are outreach for local area shelters such as Stewpot Ministries and other women and children-oriented agencies. The group provides food, resources and information if someone is in need of services. They also conduct school drives and an annual teen summit. With about 12 members total, the small group appears to be making a big impact in the community they serve.
“We have something every month of the year except September,” Osborne said. But September appears to be action-packed as well with the annual Shero’s event on the agenda.
The unique approach to preventing domestic violence is hard to measure, but the signs are there.
“Some women come back and give a great report. Sometimes we help people and don’t know how we helped them. They will have come to a summit and will come back and give testament as to how we helped them. We don’t push them to the forefront because sometimes people are embarrassed,” said Osborne.
Jones welcomes the opportunity to minister to those in need.
“(One day) we were eating and a young lady was just staring at us. I asked, ‘are you okay.’ Tears dropped,” Jones said. “I pulled out a card and put it in her hands and said when you feel like it, we are here.”
Now that the group has reached the 10-year milestone, Jones looks forward to the next 10 years.
“I am looking to retire from fulltime job and go into full time community advocacy, get a building and working on educating women and teens more on how to self-love, self-worth and self-knowing,” she said. “From doing all I’ve been doing lately, one question is ‘why do they go back’ (referring to domestic violence victims).”
The answer is clear, according to Jones. ”They don’t think they are worthy. We have to educate them of their self-worth.”
Jones feels that reaching the teens will help curb future domestic cases against adult women. She also hopes to do more outreach with men. “ We want to bring the men in and say ‘it is your responsibility to tell your daughter she is beautiful, not another man.’”
Right now, however, the challenge is continuing to reach people in light of the limitations imposed by the current pandemic.
“When this pandemic began, I didn’t know how I was going to do it and what I was going to do because I’m so hands on. I started praying and asking God what I could do to serve His people. I asked God to forgive us for not loving the way we’re supposed to love. I asked for Him to show me clarity.”
For Jones, clarity has required her to step out of her comfort zone and continue the work that she started through virtual workshops. The rising number of domestic violence cases during this time of isolation is a huge concern for her, but she admits that the online programs have been effective.
“I said I would never do virtual, but the fear left me because I prayed about it and said I have got to do this,” she said.
Even though she is not in direct contact with as many people due to the pandemic, she is happy that BBDGF can include people who may not have traveled to a summit in the past.
“I look at the pandemic as a blessing. It’s just the way you look at it.”
-Interviewed by Toni Terrett
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