Ann G's Story

Ann G Audio [03:26]
Ann G Transcript : PDF [173 KB]

Ann G. works on affordable housing policies and is an advisor and mentor of college women at San Jose State University focusing on female leadership. She is also a domestic violence survivor.  She says that creating a safe and peaceful community for her begins at home.

“In my home, I have really focused on making sure that I am taking time for myself so the peace I can show to the community starts at home. Getting off my screens, doing yoga, exercising, eating healthy foods, taking time to learn. Those are things I do in my home and I’m lucky enough to have really great roommates and a great family, and we have really strict rules of respect and how to treat each other.”

Ann says that getting a college education help her through the toughest times in her life – surviving domestic violence.

“I am a domestic violence survivor and the number one influence in my life in helping me to leave and “to heal” is education. And being able to find my confidence and my identity in education and understand the possibility of who I could be has been the single biggest influence on my life.”

In her professional career, Ann helps build a safe and peaceful community by advocating for changes in policies that will help better the health for all residents in her community.

“Professionally, I have the great opportunity to work on affordable housing policy, and how government can engage in a meaningful way to make complete, resilient communities. Communities where kids can walk to school and be safe, where parents can access healthy food locally, where kids can feel safe utilizing parks and getting exercise, being in a smoke-free housing unit - those are all things I think contribute strongly to having a healthy community, on top of needing that community to be affordable, so that they can spend very important slim marginal dollars on things like tutoring.”

Ann explains that people already do their part in creating a safe and peaceful community, but people have the ability to do more.

 “I don’t think that many people engage in a world where they want to be violent or want to be unsafe, but I think we could all do a better job of being intentional and mindful about how we operate, slowing down in school zones and being courteous to each other and taking a moment off of our cell phones to be mindful of who we are and what we are doing. Not littering, not spitting gum on the sidewalk, things like that.”

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Ann’s story is an example of how we all play a role in a safe and peaceful community. If you have an inspirational story you would like to share, please tell us about it. We want to hear from you. Visit Violence Free Communities​ and submit your story today and learn more about Violence Free Communities.