A Letter from Shandra

Welcome to Mentari.

It is a beautiful journey with my life, my family and Mentari Human Trafficking Survivor Empowerment program Inc. that I founded, along with Randall Roca and Ima Matul. In 2011, I started the conversation with Randall Roca about establishing a platform to help and support my work around my apartment house which was a shelter and training center for survivors of violence, exploitation and trafficking. At that time, I have a home business and often I invited survivors who live in the shelter to help me and I paid their time. Soon, have to help them better by creating a program, so I trained them to clean the house, basic cooking and baking. I learned from myself and survivors who I met, to be employed and earning money will help their recovery and reintegration bank into society independently.     

We establish Mentari in December 2014 and launched our organization in May 2015. I had a concept and, working out of my apartment with a survivors and advocates, turned that concept into our vision and mission, The DREAM, Direct Services, Resources, Empowerment, Advocacy, and Mentorship. 

We thankful for Freedom For All who is founded by Katie Ford who fund most our program in New York, especially economic empowerment through culinary arts programs and job placement assistance. 

As our organization has grown, lesson learned, Mentari needs a bigger team to mentor and empower survivors, funding to operate and the greatest challenge of Mentari is securing financing and we work hard to balance the fund we received and maximize the service we provide to survivors and community. 

Mentari does prevention, through outreach, education and public awareness events. We have always believed in the value of mentors and empowerment, our organization offers opportunities for survivors to network with survivors, advocates and leaders seeking to grow and scale their ability to reach their goal to be success through vocational training and job placement assistance, housing program, self-defense program, art for healing program, leadership and peer support. 

We have helped more than 500 survivors in the nationally and 600 survivors internationally through our program. We thankful to the donors, survivors and team to make this success. 

We hope you will join us in our mission to mentor and empower survivors in their reintegration back into society independently. 

Sincerely,

Shandra Woworuntu 

Founder, Mentari  / CEO, Mentari