An events venue that rebuilds lives.

Let's talk mission. I have a mission, no, we have a mission. A mission to turn around and help other domestic violence survivors who need it and ensure I do my part to help others with a helping hand up.  Who am I, well I am a domestic violence survivor who wants to help other domestic violence sufferers and their families (with their fur animals) with a place to stay.

I want to combine my dream of opening an events venue, horse boarding facility, in order to help build and sustain a safe house for a family and their pets.
Did you know that 960,000 to 3.000.000 reports of domestic violence occur in the United States in one year? 
71% of pet owners who enter a domestic violence shelter say that their batterer threatened, injured, or killed their beloved pets. Over half of battered individuals leave their pets with the batterer because they are not accepted into facilities. 

There are several separate, initiatives to this dream career.
Phase One

Wedding Venue

The market size in the United States for events venues is over 57 billion dollars. 

We want to provide a venue to the community as they are lacking in this area.  The venue to provide a place for events for those in the area outside the city of Chicago, IL.  Restoring a historic barn on property outside of the city and providing both inside and outside space for those who are looking for a beautiful venue outside of the skyline of Chicago.  Rustic Events will not only provide memories to those that hold their special events, but it will also provide some of the sustainability to those seeking to remove themselves from harm's way.  Helping to sustain the safe house that will provide that ease of nervousness to those who need it. 

The second phase is to establish a barn with 15 or more stalls for horse boarding. The barn would include daily services for those who want to keep their beloved horses closer to home.  The barn would have year-round climate control and provide space both inside and outside for horses to run and stretch.  In every business there are questions of what will I need to deal with, well in this instance there are a few. Deworming, cleanliness, feed, weather, etc. well we have a plan. Hiring a local vet or vet tech to come and start deworming programs on each horse that is boarded, Partnering with a local grower of hay to provide the best for our family's horses, and keeping the business local. Grain will be local as well. When we talk about droppings we think about more locals and there is a manure program that helps residents with access to organic sources of nitrogen, lowering their cost for commercial fertilizer while adding organic, matter to the soil.  Keeping business local is our goal as we know that our local businesses have taken a hard hit with the COVID pandemic.  Again providing a safe space for our large animals is a necessity. This business line would also aid in helping those who need a safe space as well in their lives. Again aiding in sustaining the safe house with services, we each need a purpose and a little time to gather our thoughts gaining and training therapy horses for others to use is a goal in this adventure. 

The third phase is last but the very most important of all. Securing a piece of land, building a home with an attached garage and small climate-controlled barn for the fur babies all for domestic violence survivors and their families. This house would include very tight security and a place to feel at home while they get back on their feet. Providing the comfort of a home with furniture, household supplies, internet, tv, etc are all the things that we want to help within a survivor's life along with any family members that needed to come to. Plans to work with several local agencies to provide the most secure space for our families in a time in which they need it the most. 

Funding, well there is always that bottom line. Funding is crucial and this is a large-scale plan. A dream that has my heart and soul.  My desire is to turn around and help those who need a hand-up and not a handout. I want to provide chances and choices to the town that I live in and help the community to live their lives while keeping family events close if that is what they choose. Purchasing land and equipment to help with all of the aforementioned aspects and get my business, no this passion, off the ground would be the most amazing feeling in the world. Helping others is a want, desire, passion, and I have always tried to help who I can when I can.  You will never know if the person in the next booth that just paid for your meal, the latte that was just bought by a stranger, or that extra groceries that you thought you needed and you have the cashier to put them back was just to have a person step up and pay for that little cupcake for your son and the other grocerieis you had in your basket, and I promise you ~ no one will ever know except me and the person who took the money, but you know what, it isn't that I want a thank you, I want you to have a smile for the rest of the day, to have a better day, a have a better life.....a chance to live it. 

Who will my team members be?  Well, they are family and friends who feel my passion. They are some of those exact people who need a chance, and they will be some of the people who know my personal story and know why this is so important to me. My team will be the people I am most thankful to have every day and have been my supporters. 

Then ... I feel as those we need some thank yous! To my children, who endured the same pain that I did. Thank you for allowing me to be your mom. thank you for supporting me always, especially over those 8 years of having just me as both mom and dad. They continue to support me and my choices. They support me just as I supported them during the cheer, football, soccer,  and basketball games where I was in the stands studying to get my Bachelor's degree.

To my husband to allow me to continue to follow my dreams. For telling me that he doesn't know how I have the passion that I do for the things that I complete. Thank you for supporting me in these dreams, encouraging me to keep going, telling me that I am capable, and Thank You for allowing me and helping me to follow a dream to achieve my Master's degree. 

To my family and friends that helped me to escape from those who wanted to harm us and continued to remind me that I wasn't alone. 

Thank you for reading my story and helping me to achieve a huge goal. Every penny, nickel, and dime helps to give another a hand up when there are so many that need it to escape a horrible situation. It isn't easy to decide to leave when there are so many questions that you have to answer, but one that we can solve is to provide a safe space for a family.  

Please make sure to browse through the "rewards" for donating as you will receive a gift just for helping us to fulfill this wonderful adventure of giving.