A few words
About Us
History
Our story starts way back, during Sia’s childhood in her own home
- 2015 - We first started our work
- 2017 - Officially opened
- 2018 - Employed first staff
- 2018 - Started support groups & parenting classes
- 2019 - Expanded by renting space/office
- 2020 - Started emergency shelters for survivors
- 2021 - Employed second staff
Freedom Restoration Project (FRP) was founded by Sia Kukaewkasem, a Thai national. She began volunteer work in tsunami relief camp in south Thailand, but then moved to the border town of Mae Sot to work with women and children who had been abused, trafficked, or lived in at-risk situation. After earning her Masters in Clinical Social Work from Azusa Pacific University, she returned to Mae Sot. She is motivated in her work because she is a survivor of domestic violence. She grew up in a culture where men have ultimate authority in the home. Over and over, she saw men in the community, and even her own father, abuse their wives and children. No one would intervene.
No one should live like this, but it is the reality that many women and children, and even men, suffer from domestic violence every day. The trauma leaves scars on people for years. Sia’s heart is to prevent this story, even for just one child. She wants women like her mother, to have somewhere to turn and find an ally.
FRP has encountered countless women who share their sense of hopelessness. They express how they feel stuck in their own homes, living with a partner who does not give them respite. In spite of the frequent and various forms of abuse the women and children suffered, most of them are not ready or able to leave their abusive relationships. For women migrant workers and their children, it is even more challenging for them to escape violence and seek help due to their intersectionality. First, gender as being a woman. Second, nationality as being an undocumented migrant worker.
FRP runs peer support groups for migrant women who are still in abusive relationships or who have already left the abusive relationship. FRP provides shelter for survivors of domestic violence. FRP also teaches parenting classes in the migrant communities, focusing on positive discipline in order that parents have alternatives to violence when correcting children. The clients of FRP are primarily women and children in the migrant community, with services and programs designed to empower women and promote safety and a network of support.
Our mission
Through education and empowerment, we aim to break the destructive chain of domestic violence.
Who we are
Meet Our Team
Hser Htee Paw
Shelter manager/DV case worker
Eh Wah
Junior social worker
Anna
Volunteer grant proposal manager
Stephanie
Social media volunteer
Anna
Junior social worker
