Co-Founder, Charlotte Jarvis, fled California in 2015 due to Domestic Violence (DV). Because of the nature of the abuse, staying in one place for long did not feel like a safe option. To avoid being tracked she bounced around for about a year; attending support groups where she could. Having a therapist wasn’t a realistic option, so healing had to look a little different. She wrote day in and day out, spent time outside and dropped into dance classes.

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One day, when taking a ballet class she noticed that for the first time in years she felt at peace. She noticed how good it felt to be in her body after everything it had been through. That’s when she had a lightbulb moment. She realized what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Jarvis envisioned creating a healing arts program for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV), and the vision for CNTR was born.

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In 2017, Jarvis shared her dream with Co-Founder Mira Kraft, and the two teamed up and started brainstorming from there. Kraft's professional background in business consulting, public relations, and marketing took CNTR to the next level. Kraft brought the strategy helping launch CNTR into what we know of it today.

 

Today, CNTR is a Survivor Led/Survivor Organized 501c3 nonprofit that stands for Connect, Nurture, Transform, Rebuild – all of which it aspires to do for the survivors we serve in the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) community. CNTR is on a mission to shift the direct-service paradigm from its current state of crisis management to community development, holistic services, and long-term healing for survivors of GBV.