History

The idea of EMERJ-SafeNow was conceived in Portland, OR, 2014,  by a  group of professionals in the field of law enforcement, trafficking and vio­­­­­­lence prevention who wanted to increase violence prevention programming and services in underserved communities inside and outside of the city of Portland.

In the summer of 2016, the Co-founders, Carolyne Haycraft, Amber Wright, and Aman Weaver, along with a team of dedicated violence prevention experts, envisioned an organization that would address ending gendered violence using a more equitable and collaborative model.  “We wanted to create an organization that focused on building authentic community relationships through collaboration and mutual respect for each other’s knowledge and skills. Our goal was to ensure all communities throughout the life span had access to the skills and knowledge we were teaching to women and girls.” (Carolyne)

What makes EMERJ  unique, is that we emphasize self-care and empowerment before addressing self-defense or violence prevention education and skills.  We strive to provide and make accessible resources, skills and education for vulnerable communities and organizations, especially populations that may be targeted for harassment or have a history of trauma or oppression.