10 | Non-Profit Organisation Awards 2026 Sexual Abuse Survivor Support Organization of the Year 2026 – New York One out of four girls will be sexually abused before her 16th birthday in the USA. Incest is the most common of all sexual abuse and the least spoken about. Girlthrive’s mission over the past 20 years is to spread the healing for all girls and women everywhere who have experienced incest or any sexual abuse. Girlthrive gives voice and healing to what is unspeakable, incest and all sexual abuse. When you speak out with what you were told to keep secret, the healing begins. Contact: Dr. Patti Feuereisen Founder and Director Organization: Girlthrive Website: www.girlthrive.org The seed of Girlthrive started 30 years ago when Dr. Patti Feuereisen, a psychologist in Brooklyn NY heard story after story of abuse from brave teen girls and young women. An underground network began and girl would tell girl that “Dr. Patti” would listen and give support and tell you that sexual abuse is never the survivors fault. These girls and young women had been through horrors and come out the other side. They were strong and righteous and wanted other girls to know you heal after incest Incest survivors feel invisible, no one knows from the outside what is happening inside. One of these girls asked for the group to continue in her high-school because she just knew there were other girls from many cultures that would also need to tell their stories, and they could meet under one roof. This Brooklyn High-School continues to be a melting pot of cultures. Girls whose families immigrated from Trinidad, Mexico, China, Vietnam, Korea, Russia on and on came to the sexual abuse survivor group. These beautiful, empathetic, strong girls and young women created Girlthrive. They asked for their stories to be told; they asked to write a book so that girls and women from all over the world would know they are not alone, and there is deep healing and thriving after sexual abuse. The birth of the book Invisible Girls: The Truth About Sexual Abuse took ten years of deep conversations with many girls and women, and the first edition was published in 2006. As a vehicle of additional healing following this publication, Girlthrive was created as a gift to survivors. Dr. Patti shared: “We created a website as a community resource and or a place to share her story.” Girls from all over the world began to email Dr. Patti with their experiences. Girlthrive would send them a Thrivership to honor what they had come through. This is a Thrivership instead of scholarship because these are to help a girl or young woman thrive after abuse, with whatever gift they choose. Thriverships are laptop computers, horseback riding lessons, dance classes, art supplies, cameras, poetry classes, massage therapy, tuition, rent, health insurance, seminar fees, food, trips abroad, whatever a girl identifies as an avenue to thrive. It is all very direct and personal through reaching out to Dr. Patti via email or working with their therapist or counselor from an agency. This is Girlthrive’s 20th anniversary, and it has honored hundreds of girls and young women. Dr. Patti added: “We have followed girls through college, law school, medical school. Another aspect of spreading the healing is through sending copies of Invisible Girls in its 3rd expanded edition all over the world to prisons, residential treatment centers, rape crisis centers, foster care agencies. Any funds from Invisible Girls goes back into Girlthrive where 90% goes directly to the girls and women who need it. 10% is administrative and no-one has a salary.” To celebrate its 20th anniversary Girlthrive is working on an audio book of Invisible Girls: The Truth About Sexual Abuse with girls’ voices from around the world. The young women helping to create this audio book will earn income from their participation. As one teen girl who survived incest said it best, “Simple, Invisible Girls, and Girlthrive saved my life”. “Girlthrive will continue to be a lifeline for any girl who reaches out to us. ” You can find more about Girlthrive via its website.
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