“The Joyful Heart Foundation is an Organization that is committed to helping survivors of sexual assault heal mind, body, and spirit. When I found out that 1 out of 4 women is sexually assaulted, I was so horrified and frightened and felt compelled to do something because ya know, I’ve been blessed enough to be cast in this role as Olivia Benson and therefore I have this platform that I can jump off from. What we try to do at Joyful Heart is definitely not to reinvent the wheel because there are so many fantastic organizations that are doing so much to help, but we’re just trying alternative therapies, alternative to talk therapies. We do a lot of art therapy, we swim with wild dolphins, a lot of outreach programs to ya know, the girl scouts and we’re just trying to let young people know that they already have everything they need inside them and it’s not about, ya know, with kids saying, “Don’t do this and and Don’t do that”, it’s saying, “You’re so smart, and you already know how to make great decisions and let me help you and inspire you but know that you know.” And it’s about empowering.” -Mariska Hargitay
(Source: joyfulkayla)
