Join Us for a Holiday IGNITE “Pho”-ndraiser 🍲 with Persimmon Acupuncture!
We’re so grateful for our community partners and thrilled to share this extra-special, belated IGNITE event—bringing warmth, creativity, and hope into the holiday season. SFAWS and Persimmon Acupuncture are teaming up to host a cozy, joy-filled Holiday IGNITE Pho-ndraiser, featuring comforting phở, festive treats, and heartwarming community connection.
What’s more nurturing than phở, creativity, and community on a chilly SF day? Join us to slow down, gather, and enjoy:
🍜 A comforting homemade bowl of beef or vegetarian phở
🎁 Seasonal treats and small surprises from women-owned small businesses, with delicious flavors and delights from around the world
💛 Warm and welcoming community time as we close out the year together
Please note: Food will be served outdoors, so be sure to dress warmly!
Event Details
📅 Date: Saturday, December 6
⏰ Time: 3–6 PM
📍 Location: Persimmon Acupuncture (IG: @persimmonacupuncture)
🎟️ Cost: Free, with a suggested donation of $10+
💛 Impact: All proceeds support SFAWS’s survivor-centered programs, including culturally responsive, language-accessible services for the most marginalized survivors.
We hope you’ll join us for this beautiful afternoon of nourishment, connection, and community care. Your presence helps sustain the critical work of SFAWS—while celebrating the creativity and generosity of our local women-owned small businesses and partners.
Bringing Joy to Children in Our Programs This Holiday Season
The holiday week has been off to a truly heartwarming start. We’re so grateful for our generous SFAWS community—thanks to you, more than half of the 110 holiday gifts on our wishlist have already been purchased. These are not generic items—they are specially requested gifts handpicked by the children enrolled in our programs: toys, books, art supplies, and small treasures each child shared with our advocates as their holiday wish.
For many of the survivors and families we support, the holiday season can be a challenging time. Our Holiday Wishlist Drive helps parents bring a sense of joy, warmth, and celebration to their children with items they personally selected. Your support as our “secret santas” truly makes these moments possible.
How It Works
Each child in our programs selects one meaningful gift (all $30 or under).
Items are available through a curated wishlist to ensure quick shipping and ease of purchase.
Community members like you can buy a gift directly, and our team will wrap and distribute them to families in December.
You Can Still Help
We’re more than halfway there—but we still need support to ensure every child’s wish is fulfilled. If you’d like to help create a joyful holiday season for the families we serve, you can view and purchase items directly from our wishlist. [https://tinyurl.com/SFAWS-HolidayWishlist]
Thank you for helping us bring care, comfort, and cheer to our community this holiday season. Your generosity truly makes a difference. 💜
IGNITE HOPE AND HEALING for SURVIVORS: SFAWS’s Community-Powered Campaign ͏
Screenshot of all staff with thank you messages during zoom meeting! Thank you from all of us!
On behalf of our entire SF Asian Women’s Shelter team, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. 💜 To everyone who showed up for us: whether you donated, hosted a Hearthkeeper gathering, attended an event, shared our campaign, or cheered us on, you helped make IGNITE a beautiful success! Because of you, we reached our $200,000 goal, fueling safety, healing, and hope for survivors.
One thing has always been true: our strength is our community. In a year of federal funding cuts and uncertainty, your generosity ensures we can continue sustaining our dedicated staff and the life-saving services survivors rely on. To longtime supporters who stretched their giving, and to new friends who joined us without hesitation — we are deeply grateful.
Your support fills the gaps when social services fall short. It keeps doors open, crisis lines answered, and families safe.
We’re not done building community — stay tuned for updates and special end-of-year Hearthkeeper gatherings. Usually at this time of year, we begin our holiday giving efforts, another essential way we show up for survivors and their families. Holiday support is not traditionally funded through government grants, and your generosity ensures families receive comfort and care during a time that can be especially difficult. Stay tuned for details on how you can help bring joy and stability this season by contributing specifically requested items and supporting the families we serve through the holidays.
Together, we keep the light of safety and hope burning bright. 🔥✨
SF AWS’s Korean talk line is open!
In addition to Asian Women’s Shelter’s multilingual crisis line for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and/or female genital cutting, SF AWS has launched its Korean Talk Line with support from the Korean American Community Foundation of San Francisco! The Korean Talk Line is a confidential phone resource for Korean survivors of violence and those supporting them. Click here to learn more on our new K-PEACE (Koreans Preventing and Ending Abuse through Community Engagement) page.
“Shame dies when stories are told in safe places. ”
Over half a million women, girls, and children assigned female at birth are affected by or at risk of being affected by FGM/C at any given time. Yet few resources exist to support survivors in their journeys toward healing and protecting future generations from this practice. With leadership from Sahiyo, AWS’s crisis line is open to support people affected by FGM/C (Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting) in Asian and other communities. Trained advocates staff the lines and are knowledgeable on FGM/C and the cultural and social connotations in which it continues. They are ready to provide a listening ear, care and support, and work with you to consider physical and/or emotional safety planning if needed.
“I was so happy to know that Sahiyo is collaborating with the Asian Women’s Shelter to support women who suffer from the trauma of FGC and need an empathetic ear. I have worked in the domestic violence (DV) space for a couple of decades, and this is the first time I am seeing recognition of this trauma in the sphere of DV. I am so proud of both organizations and hope collaboration expands with other organizations throughout the U.S. and abroad.”
- Sakina Sharp
“You women are a precious gift to me. Your faces are like a mirror reflecting myself, saying ‘I believe in you. You can make it. You do not deserve to live in fear and violence.’”