SANCTUARY

My work day closes with the delivery of this box containing the chapbook and amenities/makeup bag created from my poem, Sanctuary, which I was commissioned to write to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Crisis Center North in Pittsburgh and the 80,000 lives they have saved across those years. The full poem was developed into this chapbook and an excerpt of the poem was used to create the amenities/makeup bags. The bag reads:

One woman speaking into that silence freed us. Her voice, addressing the need
among us, helped us to find and raise our own voices.
Copyright 2018 Dora E. McQuaid, from her poem, Sanctuary.

Sales of both of these items will go to direct services to support survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence in Pittsburgh. Opening this box brought me such gratitude that my life led me to the point of my poems literally helping to save the lives of survivors of violence. I am honored, and reminded again that the story you are living is still leading you forward, and miracles often arrive when we least expect them to. I hope your own story carries you in both gratitude and grace, with a miracle or two reminding you that everything is possible.

All peace to each one of you. Dora