Our Place Healing Hearts Foundation

Since she was young, Destiny Grigsby always had a passion for helping others improve their own lives. Throughout her childhood, she was encouraged and expected to tailor her education towards family law. The hope was that one day, she would be able to represent

her biological father to get out of prison. However, during college, she realized that instead of becoming the attorney, she felt a deep calling to work
within community, assisting vulnerable individuals up close. So, she took herself off a pre-law track and continued to pursue an education in social work. She will receive her Doctor of Social Work Degree in the winter of 2022. Raised by a single
parent of 5 (and by a survivor of domestic violence), Destiny has since obtained her Masters, PhD, and title as CEO, and now has run her very own nonprofit since 2016. Its mission is to provide wellness assistance and education for women and children of battered
homes. Her strategy is to utilize resources within county, state, and local governments to create transformative housing, with the help of mental-health professionals, life coaches and educators. She also provides daily living programs which offer food, clothing,
shelter, tutoring, and holiday drives.

I was raised by my courageous single mother, Mrs. Bernice Grigsby, who relentlessly cared for me and my four siblings, while also grappling with the long-term effects of domestic violence. As my mother grew stronger and taught us how to care for others, she began to reach out into her community for support. Her mind became clear and centered. I watched others heal her, from the inside out. As I got older, my mother started to share details of her struggles, and I realized I wanted to offer the same specialized and individualized support to others, that she received all those years ago.

My story is similar to my mother’s. I was a victim of a type of domestic violence that targeted self-esteem and generated depression and anxiety. But as I grew stronger, I took the advice of my strong mother and paved my own path. In 2016, I founded Our Place Healing Hearts Foundation, a non-profit organization that assists victims of Domestic Violence. We work to reduce harrowing statistics of physical, sexual, and emotional violence against women and children by engaging with local and state government projects. We hope to extend into broader minority communities this year.

At Our Place Healing Hearts Foundation, our main goal is to greatly reduce domestic violence within minority communities. To curb this pandemic of violence against women and children, we primarily assist, support, counsel, and provide mental health avenues for those that would otherwise have no access to individualized help. As our organization has grown, we’ve seen our clients become stronger, more resilient, and fully empowered as individuals. While our organization does cater mostly towards women and children, we do acknowledge that men are also victims of horrific domestic violence, so our services are, of course, offered to men as well.

The most prominent way we address domestic violence is to engage our communities in education and empowerment. We work closely with local organizations and statewide human rights legislation to promote wellness and bodily protection. Our social media and website provide anecdotes and survival stories, which makes those who reach out to us, feel heard. On a more minute level, we provide free tutoring for children of battered homes, so that academic education is at the forefront of the next generation. Monthly, we organize clothing drives, holiday giveaways, emergency access to food and water, and pandemic supply deliveries.

Our efforts to reduce domestic violence are particularly unique because we stretch our volunteer initiatives throughout 5-counties: LA, Orange County, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside. Rather than having a top-down approach with a centralized board, our leadership comes from all of our participating counties, which fosters an environment that promotes widespread collaboration. These Board Members constantly work within meet-and-greet frameworks, which encourages comfort and participation from community members. Once our meet-and-greets collect data and participation records, we invite community members to attend guest-speaker events, which include Mental Health Advocates, Education Representatives, Law Enforcement Members, and local Politicians.

Logistically, we are especially unique because in addition to face-to-face assistance, we also provide hotline services for those who need immediate help. While other domestic violence organizations work hard to provide accessibility for victims, OPHHF guarantees support 24/7.

Finally, we care! There are so many corporations across the country that don’t work from a “grassroots” point of view. Those organizations don’t put victims first. By working within our communities and building our non-profit around the needs of our neighbors, friends, and family, we will strengthen from within, and then work our way out to help the rest of the world.

Our organization has an impact on humanity for two main reasons. First, we are bringing humanity back to the souls of our victims. Second, we are promoting humanity by leading an organization which fights for the rights of victims of abuse.

We bring humanity back to the souls of our victims by empowering them through education and mental health treatment. Many of our clients initially possess extremely low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, because those are the horrific results of many forms of domestic violence. Through our organization, we work to restore confidence and stability in these victims’ lives. Without undermining their dignity, we offer any service they may need to feel human again, rather than objects or subordinates. Other than keeping children safe, our main goal has been to foster internal healing just as much as we encourage and support physical healing.

 We bring humanity back to communities by promoting education on domestic violence and offering resources for survival. Through funding support of our organization, we’re able to provide physical resources like food, water, clothing, baby supplies and more. The most mundane of items can feel like a restoration of humanity, and that’s exactly what our organization aims to foster.