What if...

By Gabrielle Alzate, BJM Executive Director

All it took was meeting Lexy.  She changed my life forever 10 years ago, on the first Saturday I moved to San Francisco at BJM’s Women’s Spa Day.  She was the survivor of a lifetime of violence and exploitation—born into a generational line of prostitution.  She was living on and working the streets of the Tenderloin, caught up in addiction and trying to make ends meet.

She was the first woman that opened my eyes to the cycles of exploitation and violence that women face in the inner city.  

The reality is that there are countless women who have similar stories to Lexy. 

• Women are 38% more likely to live in poverty than men.

• 1 in 4 women have been victims of severe domestic violence, and estimates indicate that half of all homeless women and children have become homeless while trying to escape abusive situations.

• The Tenderloin, our neighborhood, has the lowest life expectancy of any zip code in our city. Yet, has the most children per capita than anywhere else in the city.

I can’t help but reflect on what would have happened if someone would have intervened earlier in Lexy’s life. It was story after story like Lexy’s that made me realize the importance and impact of preventative ministry, a ministry—or even just a person—that steps in earlier rather than later.

Our heart at BJM is to step in earlier, to be the ones to provide a safe community, to affirm the God-given worth and dignity of each woman and girl in our neighborhood.

The reality of it is that the world is full of Lexy’s, hoping that someone will show up, that someone wants to hear their story, that someone cares and that someone will intervene.

This is why we are here.

We believe in the brighter futures of women and girls.  We believe that women and girls are powerful agents of change in their communities.  We believe that women and girls are created and destined for great things.