# @sjmagmedia on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CdJva0YP5HW
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/177332-sjmagmedia-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/fe734cf1ef.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-05-04T22:03:25.000+00:00

## Caption

✨ Introducing: Women of Excellence Lifetime Legacy Honoree: Francina Pendergrass, Founder/President, Hannah’s House! ✨

Years before Hannah’s House opened, the idea came to Francina Pendergrass as a vision. As clear as day, Francina saw that she would someday open a safe, peaceful home to help women in crisis rebuild their lives.

Francina started a family literacy program for incarcerated women at the Cumberland County Department of Corrections. In addition to providing academic help, the program included parenting classes, poetry, and family counseling that helped the women reconnect with their children and families. Many left prison with new skills and confidence, but finding housing was still a stumbling block, she says.

“There were young women who had been on the streets since they were 12 or 13 and now they were 18 or 19,” she says. “When they were released, many didn’t have a place to go and they started losing hope.”

It wasn’t just a South Jersey problem. Through her church, Francina, an ordained minister, participated in missions in Italy and South Africa helping girls and young women working as prostitutes transition out of that life. Then 4 years ago, everything finally came together. Francina found the right space in Gloucester County, funding and the community partners she needed to open Hannah’s House, a 2-year residential program for survivors of human trafficking, sexual abuse and domestic violence.

“We take in women at the lowest point of their lives,” she says. “A lot of them are coming straight off the streets and have nothing with them. When you put someone who has experienced trauma like that into a loving, peaceful environment, you can see them changing and becoming more relaxed.”

“We continue loving them,” she adds, “until they can love themselves.”

Get to know Francina and the rest of our 2022 Women of Excellence Honorees at our Link in Bio!
📷: @dmhphotographer 
#southjersey #womenofexcellence #justsaysj #newjersey #philanthropy #humantrafficking #domesticviolence #womeninbusiness #womenleaders

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## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SJ Magazine | @Justsaysj | https://gondola.cc/Justsaysj | Magazine |
| Elyse Notarianni | @ElyseNotarianni | https://gondola.cc/ElyseNotarianni | Social Media Manager |

## Tags

justsaysj, southjersey, womenleaders, philanthropy, humantrafficking, womeninbusiness, domesticviolence, newjersey, womenofexcellence

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