We’d like to begin by saying that this story is of a very direct and honest nature.  It involves a very open discussion about the extremely harsh reality faced by so many who hide their life on the surface, but live a nightmare at home.  Home where safety is supposed to be first.  Home where comfort is guaranteed.  Home where you are always welcome.  For some, home is where rock bottom is hit, and it’s hit hard.  Jo Jo Dries hit it harder than almost anyone else, at the bottom of the staircase.  Then she said “no more”.

We are inundated daily by crimes against vulnerable people that seem unspeakable.  Domestic abuse.  Sexual abuse.  Mental abuse.  Financial Control.  Modern days have not stopped slavery, they have only masked it differently.  The shops selling humans like livestock in auctions have been gone since the Emancipation Proclamation, but slavery today is alive and well in the form of human trafficking, abuse, control and manipulation to get someone to do something that is out of their control so someone else can profit.  Imagine if that was happening within your immediate family?  Jo Jo Dries story is hard to hear.  What’s harder is that it’s not on some national newscast…distanced by the idea that you’ll never meet the victim.  Jo Jo is your neighbor.  And bringing the victims together…that’s the meeting that needed to take place.

On the Wings of Angels is a group dedicated to providing a sincerely safe space to heal from domestic or sexual abuse.  The level of trauma that comes from this is very hard to comprehend unless it’s a lived experience.  “Domestic abuse rewires the brain through chronic toxic stress and physical trauma. It enlarges the threat-detecting amygdala, shrinks the memory-regulating hippocampus, and impairs the logical prefrontal cortex. Physical hits, shaking, and strangulation also cause hidden traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), leading to long-term memory, mood, and cognitive struggles.”  It’s not a “get over it and move on” thing at all.  It’s deeply impactful on so many levels and the trust in others, can sometimes never come back.  Respite and relief are key and time is essential, but at the end of a violent and abusive relationship…sometimes all that there is left is to run.  That’s where On the Wings of Angels comes in.

Equipped at day one from contact, On the Wings of Angels has services like, mental health, physical health, safe housing, childcare, employment, and community to build on. Community that understands and can help.  Generous and compassionate sponsors help supply needs.  Imagine having a pool of money to pull from if first and last month’s rent is needed….immediately and you have no cash or credit?  It’s there.  Supplies for your kids if you have to run?  Home needs?  Health care supplies?  Yup and Yup.  Most of all.  You just left everything….and chances are everyone.  Isolation in a time of crisis?  I’ll bet you my last $100 bucks that the isolation leads to a repeat.  Going back to what was.  At On the Wings of Angels, the cycle of insanity stops.  What’s not working doesn’t repeat and a path forward…difficult as it can be is found.

Here is the very sad reality.  All of this abuse.  It’s only about control.   It’s a trait that won’t go away in humans.  Protecting those who have been damaged and helping them repair is what we can do until evolution changes some.  Even those who were supposed to raise us in some cases.  If you ever wonder if Angels are among us…..look no further than Jo Jo.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ON THE WINGS OF ANGELS.    CLICK HERE to follow On the Wings of Angels on Facebook.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or sexual abuse:

In an emergency, call 911.

National resources

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE), or text “START” to 88788 — 24/7, confidential
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 — 24/7, confidential, also available online at hotline.rainn.org
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 — for anyone in emotional distress or crisis, including survivors
Love Is Respect (teen dating abuse): 1-866-331-9474, or text “loveis” to 22522

Michigan statewide resources

Michigan’s VOICES4 Hotline (domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking): call or text 1-855-864-2374, or chat at michigan.gov/voices4 — free, confidential, anonymous, 24/7
Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence: mcedsv.org — statewide directory of local shelters and advocates