Mary Kay Ash believed that motivation, recognition and an unlimited opportunity could transform women, empowering them to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Sadly, one in three women in the U.S. today will be the victim of violence during her lifetime. Domestic violence, rape, stalking and murder threaten and destroy women’s dreams, their families and, too often, their lives.

Since 2000, the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation has awarded millions of dollars to women’s shelters across the country. From 2005 through 2007, the Foundation has awarded $20,000 grants, totaling $3 million, to 150 shelters in all 50 states for each of these years.

Click here to see the Mary Kay Inc. Supports Women’s Shelters video to see how these grants help protect women and children across the country from domestic violence.

To help bring national attention to the problem of domestic violence, Mary Kay Inc. and the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation underwrote a powerful PBS documentary in 2001 called “Breaking the Silence: Journeys of Hope,” produced by Connecticut Public Television. The program has aired more than 800 times, reaching 98 million television households in all 50 states. To find out more about this important video or to order a copy, click here. In 2005 the MKACF gave an additional $500,000 grant to underwrite a companion documentary called, "Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories,” produced by Connecticut Public Television. The documentary chronicles the long-term effects of domestic violence on children and premiered on many PBS stations in October 2005 (in conjunction with National Domestic Violence Month).

Since 2003 the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation has given $1,320,000 to the National Network to End Domestic Violence’s Safety Net Program. The Safety Net team works tirelessly to raise women's awareness of safety issues concerning the use of technology. In 2007, the Foundation granted Safety Net $200,000 to develop, produce and distribute a CD-ROM titled "Survivors and Technology: An Interactive Safety Planning Tool."

Also, in 2007, the Foundation awarded $200,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s Love Is Respect program. As a result of this donation, loveisrespect.org implemented a new interactive Web-based strategy designed to drive team attention to the Web site and the helpline and to fund a marketing program that generates awareness of dating violence to teens, parents and schools. Click here to learn more about the Love Is Respect program.

The Foundation invites you to join the effort to help women and children affected by violence. We encourage you to educate yourself about the issue. To be an informed listener. To seek help when there is a need. Most of all, we encourage you to break the silence. Only when the silence is broken can help be found and lives be changed.

If you or anyone you know needs immediate help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233). Click here to learn more about the women’s shelters supported by the MKACF.