Community Highlights: Meet Charlotte Jarvis of CNTR

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlotte Jarvis. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Founder, Charlotte Jarvis, fled California in 2015 due to Domestic Violence (DV). Because of the nature of the abuse, staying in one place for long did not feel like a safe option. To avoid being tracked she bounced around for about a year; attending support groups where she could. Having a therapist wasn’t a realistic option, so healing had to look a little different. She wrote day in and day out, spent time outside and dropped into dance classes.

One day, when taking a ballet class she noticed that for the first time in years she felt at peace. She noticed how good it felt to move her body after everything it had been through. That’s when she had a lightbulb moment. She realized what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Jarvis envisioned creating a healing arts program for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV), and the vision for CNTR was born.

In 2017, Jarvis shared her dream with co-founder Mira Kraft, and the two began brainstorming from there. Today, CNTR is a Survivor Led/Survivor Organized 501c3 nonprofit that stands for Connect, Nurture, Transform, Rebuild – all of which it aspires to do for the survivors we serve in the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) community. CNTR is on a mission to shift the direct-service paradigm from its current state of crisis management to community development, holistic services, and long-term healing for survivors of GBV.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?

None of this has been smooth. As a survivor I received services from many different agencies, but after surviving the immediate trauma I was forced to try to reenter society and continue business as usual. Eventually, I decided to enter the DV field to gain some relevant professional experience and I began to see how crisis management was just that – managing crises but not ultimately changing the cycle. I saw the same thing again and again. Due to a lack of funding, people were receiving immediate crisis services and were then left to fend for themselves. Our current services cannot cover all the bases.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?

CNTR specializes in healing arts retreats for survivors. Uniquely, we also provide the opportunity for survivors to be hired to teach creative arts workshops to other survivors. Workshops range from dance to yoga, visual arts, and writing, to name a few. CNTR is proud to say it’s been paving a new lane, showing how essential it is to fund long-term healing services. In order to continue our mission, we need to secure more funding to bridge the gap between crisis management and community engagement, helping survivors stabilize and ultimately move towards a new life.

Pricing:

• You can support CNTR at: https://givebutter.com/supportCNTR

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cntrwork.org/
• Instagram: @cntrwork
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cntrnonprofit/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cntrwork