WE HAVE BIG NEWS!

With a committed purpose and the power of your support, we dove into 2022 determined to make communities safer from assault, abuse, and trafficking. Through our prevention education, self defense training, and collaborative consulting with survivors, their families, and the professionals serving them, we are accomplishing our mission across the globe. Let's celebrate by taking a look together at what we've accomplished with your help!

ACROSS THE US AND MORE

SASS Go has trained nearly 13,000 women and girls in 22 states and Washington DC.

Curious about which states we are talking about? Here they are: Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

In 2022 women and girls around the globe received our self defense and threat assessment training from across 4 continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Within the myriad of places and people served were universities, private and public schools, organizations like the National Charity League, and corporations like Truist Bank, KPMG, and Infor. How cool is that?

WELCOMING NEW INSTRUCTORS

This year the SASS Go National Instructor Training was held in Dallas, Texas. We added 7 new instructors to our tribe for a total of 28 instructors across the United States. We are proud to share that we have officially taken up residence in three NEW states with these additions. Those states are Florida, Georgia, and Virginia. Congratulations to each of these incredible ladies on their hard work and dedication to #protectthetribe. Stay tuned for our next National Instructor Training to be held in Summer 2023.

GIVING AS WE GO

This year we served and supported nearly 1,000 women and girls for free or at a reduced cost. In just 4 short years, we have worked with over 6,500 people for free or at a reduced cost. From our self defense courses to our consulting teams working hand in hand with survivors and their families, our mission to ensure safer communities extends to everyone everywhere- because we believe are all worth fighting for!

If you want to help sponsor women, girls, and our work for 2023, please give here. With 1 in 3 women across the globe experiencing assault and abuse, your help is always needed and appreciated. And you are not alone in your generosity. Did you know that each of our instructors donates 10% of what they earn back to SASS Go to help secure scholarships for women and girls who need them? Yup. Our tribe is all about giving as we go and we are so grateful you are too!

THE CONFERENCE ON CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN

In May, SASS Go was honored to present our insights and wisdom on ending involuntary druggings in our communities at the Conference on Crimes Against Women in Dallas, Texas. This renowned conference hosts thousands of professionals each year from across the globe to uncover the latest information from trusted experts in their fields. From prosecutors and judges to law enforcement and first responders, everyone has a part to play in preventing, pursuing, and ending involuntary druggings and the crimes associated with them.

THE SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN'S ADVOCACY SUMMIT

On June 21st in Columbia, South Carolina, SASS Go hosted the 2022 South Carolina Women's Advocacy Summit, showcasing the resolve of change-makers from across the state. By invitation only, a team of carefully selected field specialists gathered. Together law enforcement, medical professionals, attorneys, executive directors, and advocates evaluated the trends and challenges faced by survivors of violence and abuse they serve. Key community leaders with powerful influence surrounded this discussion to gain a realistic perspective of the successes and hurdles both survivors and professionals experience.

Among those leaders were South Carolina's First Lady Peggy McMaster, Columbia Mayor Rickenmann, family members of survivors, and philanthropists. Together, they explored proposed and innovative solutions with one goal- to use the information shared to make decisions that positively impact the safety and well-being of South Carolinians for generations to come. During this time, a collective momentum was bolstered, the spirit of cooperation invigorated, and relationships were forged across the state, resulting in new ideas and initiatives to better serve our communities.

OUR TRIBES IN AFRICA

SASS Go served both South Africa and Tunisia from July - October by providing free live virtual trainings for multiple organizations supporting those experiencing assault and abuse. These trainings included an area of South Africa with the highest femicide rate in the world.

Utilizing SASS Go's 10 Critical Skills to Save Your Own Life curriculum, 1,074 women and girls learned to increase their chances of survival when personally targeted, whether in a relationship or by an unknown person on the street. Each attendee also discovered ways to refine her observation lens, understand and perform her own threat assessments, and trust her intuition to save her own life. Our special thanks to i-LEAD Self Defense for hosting several of these trainings for their tribes. This curriculum is available to you and those you love too and can be requested at team@sassgo.org.

HOSTING AN INTERNATIONAL ENDEAVOR

In July, SASS Go partnered with the US State Department and the US Embassy in Tashkent to train13 women from Uzbekistan in Columbia, South Carolina. Each woman learned the SASS Go methodology which focuses on protecting mental and physical well-being by utilizing threat assessment, leadership, conflict resolution, and trauma-informed self defense skills.

For the next two years, the delegates will be agents of change in Uzbekistan, sharing the skills they developed with SASS Go with other women and girls throughout their respective regions. In doing so, they are supporting the US Embassy's PAS (Public Affairs Section) efforts to prevent and combat gender-based violence and promote women's empowerment. What an honor it is to know that generations of women in Uzbekistan will be influenced by this powerful collaboration.

We loved training each of them and learned as much from them as they did from us. Our deepest gratitude to the State Department and Embassy for trusting us with these incredibly brave women and to First Lady Peggy McMaster for hosting them at the South Carolina Governor's Mansion. Thank you also to The Graduate hotel in Columbia for providing true southern hospitality and impeccable attention to detail for these special guests. To view the video that takes you along the journey and hear the women's stories, head here.

LAUNCHING A KIT TO FIGHT INVOLUNTARY DRUGGINGS

The Green Screen is a kit being used in Columbia, South Carolina to help identify, investigate, and end involuntary druggings. SASS Go developed this kit in response to reports of increased numbers of drug-facilitated crimes- a trend that is garnering attention across the world.

The contents of the Green Screen include a blood and urine collection kit, consent form, and advocacy booklet that helps victims track critical information while understanding the crime, how it affects their health, and options for next steps. The Green Screen is available now at Providence Hospital as well as Prisma Health Baptist, Richland, and Parkridge hospitals in Columbia. For more information about the Green Screen or to help sponsor this initiative, head here.

REVEALING THE BANKS: FOR A SAFER TOMORROW

During the South Carolina Women's Advocacy Summit, we revealed the plans we have in store for 2023. These are big plans to revolutionize the way we prevent, respond to, and tackle violence and abuse moving forward. The Banks is a SASS Go powered community with a centralized state-of-the-art campus for survivors of violence, their families, communities, and the professionals that serve them.

The proposed site will be centrally located in South Carolina on picturesque grounds with two distinct areas. (1) The Landing will serve as a hub where experts gather, using their insights and experiences to help state leaders create communities that are safer from assault, abuse, and trafficking. Indoor and outdoor training spaces will host events for citizens to learn self defense skills, how to perform their own threat assessments, and protect the lives of those they love. (2) The Refuge will house 14 private cottages with survivor-centric care for guests and their families in a serene all-inclusive environment. This exclusive and protected retreat will serve as a sanctuary where women can find the respite they deserve and an individualized care team of counselors, healthcare professionals, wellness experts, and advocates for both immediate and long-term support.

OUR NEWEST POSITIONS AND PEOPLE

Join SASS Go in welcoming Betsy Chandler to the SASS Go tribe as our Operations and Outreach Coordinator. Betsy ensures we are running smoothly and reaching our tribe. We are incredibly grateful for her. We also want to publicly congratulate our own Micki Ridd on her new position as Director of Training. Micki has now taken on the awesome responsibility of leading and implementing our SASS Go National Instructor Trainings. Thank you for your dedication and determination Micki.

I WILL SURVIVE WEEKENDS

Our I Will Survive Weekends have become a signature program requested year after year from women across the country. In 2022, our I Will Survive Weekend hosted women from as far as Texas ready to train with experts in threat assessment, weapons, and self defense. As a tribe, we look forward to these weekends with total joy and reverence for those who attend. We laugh, we cry, we grow, we bond, and we leave with a renewed sense of confidence in our physical and mental abilities, our purpose, and our divine right to protect our lives because we are all worth fighting for.

We are looking forward to our 2023 I Will Survive Weekends on February 24-26 and October 13-15. We hope to see you at The Sawmill in Laurens, South Carolina. Find more information about this one-of-a-kind weekend and register here. We have 5 deserving women who have already requested scholarships to attend this life-changing weekend. More requests will come in. If you would like to help change a life, please donate here. If your company would like to be a corporate sponsor, please head here. Each corporate sponsor earns a spot on our IWS shirts, social media and event recognition, and our deepest gratitude.

Special thanks to this our most recent sponsors for their support: Radians, Savage Craft Ale Works, Fortis Tactical, The Lindsey Pilkington Foundation, The Sawmill Training Complex, James & Rebecca Hamilton, The Welch Family, The Chancy Family, Donna Caldwell, and Carolina One Realty. We couldn't have done it without you!

2023 HERE WE COME

The momentum of 2022 is propelling us forward into 2023 - another year of purpose and joy! Despite the realities of the dangers we face as women, there is hope that can easily be found in any SASS Go educational session, self defense courses, or collaborative consultation. Assault, abuse, and trafficking will find no place to rest in the hearts of our tribe. Our instructors, community partners, and Sassters know they are strong, loved, full of purpose, and always worth fighting for, and they are committed to doing their part to make communities safer for everyone.

If you have yet to partner with us to help fuel our mission or are ready to partner again after seeing the work we are doing, join us to protect lives today by becoming a monthly, end-of-the-year, I Will Survive Weekend, or generous one-time donor. Every dollar is essential to saving the lives of women and girls around the world. It is easy to see just how far we make every dollar go from Uzbekistan to Utah! Our work is never finished and we don't stop caring about, impacting, and safeguarding lives from violence and abuse.

We need you. Those we serve need you. It's easy to make your donation here today to help #protectthetribe. And if you have yet to find yourself in one of our courses, register and learn more about them here. We are grateful for our past, reverent in the now, and eagerly anticipating a bold future where together we build a safer tomorrow for everyone!

Every donation helps ensure our work safeguarding lives from assault, abuse, and trafficking continues. Please give today to launch us into another amazing year in 2023!

Have questions or want to speak with someone about how you can support our work? Give us a call at (803) 317-7277 or email us at team@sassgo.org. We can't wait to listen.