Miles Davis, Ph.D., dean and professor of management at Shenandoah University’s Harry F. Byrd, Jr., School of Business and The River 95.3 FM radio personality Janet Michael were joined, in September, by Regina Mullins, a representative of Thistle Farms, a powerful community of women who are healing from prostitution, trafficking and addiction, on the Valley Business Today.
“A chance meeting can turn an entire show around and lead to inspiration,” said Dr. Davis about his initial encounter with Mullins. Davis met Mullins as she was setting up a display in the second-floor lobby of Halpin-Harrison Hall advertising a presentation to be held on Sept. 21. Mullins was on campus as a representative of Nashville-based Thistle Farms, a sanctuary for women survivors of abuse, addiction, trafficking and prostitution. As Mullins described Thistle Farms’ mission to Davis, he felt inspired. “It is an eye-opener for everyone who has ever tried to change their life for the better and make good on past mistakes.” said Davis.
About Thistle Farms: In 1997, Episcopal priest Becca Stevens, opened one home for four women survivors of trafficking, addiction, and prostitution under the name Magdalene. Magdelane was the predecessor of the current Thistle Farms, a residential program that today provides housing for up to 32 women and serves hundreds more with advocacy and referral services. The program offers housing, medical care, therapy, education and job training for two years, without charging women or receiving government funding.
Thistle Farms’ social enterprises employs residents and graduates of the residential program; operating a natural bath and body product line, the Thistle Stop Cafe, the Studios Workshop and Thistle Farms Global Marketplace. Housed in an 11,000 square-foot facility in Nashville, Thistle Farms is a supportive workplace where women acquire the skills they need to earn a living wage. The women of Thistle Farms make, by hand, natural bath and body products that are good for the earth and for the body using premium, natural ingredients. Thistle Farms products are available online as well as over 450 stores across the country.
Becca Stevens is an author as well as a 2016 CNN Hero. She spoke to the Shenandoah community and the public on Sept. 21 at Halpin-Harrison Hall (HHH), Stimpson Auditorium, as part of a free event presented through First-Year Seminar.
Listen to the Valley Business Today Show | September 21