Empowering JOY: Why Your Support Matters

Two years ago, Share in the JOY launched Empowering JOY with one goal in mind: to empower women living in domestic violence shelters by giving them a day focused entirely on healing, hope, education, and connection. We secured a beautiful venue with enough space for 100 women, believing the need would far exceed our capacity. Yet, on the day of the event, only 30 women attended.

Afterward, we reached out to the shelters to better understand why attendance had been so low. Their answer changed everything.

Many women simply did not feel safe leaving the shelter. For some, the fear of being found by an abuser outweighed the opportunity to attend. Others were navigating trauma, anxiety, transportation challenges, or concerns about leaving their children. The barriers were far greater than we had imagined.

The following year, we did everything we could to remove those barriers. We provided charter buses directly from the shelters, arranged for armed security, and worked closely with shelter staff to make the experience as safe and accessible as possible. Despite those efforts, attendance increased by only two women.

That experience taught us one of the most valuable lessons we've learned as an organization: sometimes the people who need help the most aren't able to come to us we have to go to them.

Because of that realization, Empowering JOY is evolving from a once-a-year event into a year-round program. Our vision is to bring the Empowering JOY curriculum directly into domestic violence shelters throughout Southern Nevada, meeting women where they are and providing ongoing workshops focused on mental wellness, financial independence, self-confidence, self-care, healthy relationships, and rebuilding their lives. Rather than offering just one day of encouragement each year, we want to provide consistent opportunities for healing, education, and empowerment throughout the year.

At the same time, we also discovered something equally important.

The need for empowerment extends far beyond the walls of a shelter.

Not every woman who has given away her power lives in a domestic violence shelter. Some are silently struggling in unhealthy relationships. Others are navigating divorce, grief, financial hardship, emotional abuse, low self-esteem, or simply years of putting everyone else's needs before their own. Many women don't even recognize that they've lost their voice until someone helps them find it again.

That's why we're continuing to host Empowering JOY as a community event. It gives women throughout our community the opportunity to experience this life-changing program for themselves while also seeing firsthand the work that Share in the JOY is doing to support women living in shelters. Our hope is that participants leave empowered not only in their own lives, but inspired to help empower someone else's.

None of this is possible without the support of our community.

Your financial contributions and in-kind donations allow us to offer Empowering JOY free of charge, provide meals, educational materials, self-care resources, speakers, and gifts for participants, and most importantly, expand this program into shelters where women may otherwise never have access to these opportunities.

When you donate to Empowering JOY, you're not simply sponsoring an event. You're helping build a sustainable program that reaches women where they are, reminds them of their worth, and equips them with the tools and confidence to reclaim their lives.

Together, we can ensure that every woman, whether she's in a shelter or sitting beside us in our community, knows she is worthy, capable, powerful, and never alone.

Empowering JOY 2026

Team Members