Four years ago, Roxanne Wright ('99 M.Ed.) intended to transition from working as a school counselor to working as a full-time mom. Instead, she became a children's advocate for New Friends New Life, a nonprofit organization that helps women who no longer want to work in the sex industry. The organization, run entirely by women, encourages "protégés" to pursue their dreams, caring for them financially, emotionally, educationally and spiritually. Wright coordinates a program providing parenting support for the mothers and academic support and counseling for the children.
"Some of our protégés have little education and no other way to support themselves," Wright says. "The majority were sexually abused."
Wright was a member of the church where the organization began in 1997. A woman seeking help to get out of the industry found the support of church members and brought her friends. The ministry eventually was established as a nonprofit, which Wright has watched grow.
"I had no intention of working at all when I had my first child, but I was approached about developing a children's component," she says. "It allowed me to use my training and my love for kids and to share my faith." She says her interest in counseling solidified as she went through UNT's nationally acclaimed play therapy program.
"Being in the program with its founder, Garry Landreth, and then interning at the Child and Family Resource Clinic on campus, made me more and more passionate about counseling," she says.
At NFNL, she consults with volunteer counselors, helping identify early issues that some children face. Each week, protégés meet for dinner and life skills education while their children receive tutoring and counseling.
"When we start to see these women as victims, how so many of their circumstances are out of their control," Wright says, "we want to reach out and empower them."