I had the pleasure of attending the Hope Shining Blue 10th anniversary celebratory event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 26, 2023. This year it was held on Denim Day, an international day to show support for survivors of sexual assault. Hope Shining Blue honors survivors of sexual and domestic violence and raises critical funds for Aurora Healing & Advocacy Services. The event highlight is an inspiring fashion show featuring sexual assault survivors in a once-in-a-lifetime runway presentation. They raised almost $230,000 that evening. 

Awardees
Nancy Yarbrough was the Hope Shining Award Honoree. 
Candace Sanchez was the Thrive Award Honoree.
Click here to learn more about them.

Candace Sanchez
Candace is the host of a podcast, "Unspoken: Conversations with Candace" where she focuses on difficult and taboo topics. She has dedicated the third season of her podcast to male survivors of sexual abuse. People like me. I was the first guest and am the co-host for this season. The social media / digital consulting firm I work with, Digimentors, is providing production support for this season pro bono.  Click here to learn more about my story and the podcast .