The Moonwood Movement is dedicated to raising awareness and a system of support for victims of child sex abuse. Every day, Moonwood’s co-owners Alecia and Bernadette fight for education on childhood indicators of abuse, raising awareness on courses of action within the justice system, and resources for abuse survivors and their families. Moonwood Movement’s purpose is to help survivors find their voice, to give their hands the tools needed to move forward independently, and to motivate change in the way our community currently approaches child sex abuse. For years, co-owner Alecia’s daughter has used the imagery of the woods as a safe space when feeling overwhelmed by memories of sexual abuse during her childhood. Co-owners Bernadette and Alecia are focused on making Moonwood an environment where abuse survivors can work and gain skills they can take wherever they go next on their journey of healing.
We believe with love, and support, survivors will be able to find hope for a better future.
Baking and coffee brewing has long been used as a cathartic release for those who need a soothing reminder of a bit of good in the world. Within the world of commercial food production, craftsmanship is key. You learn as you go, and start whenever you are ready. There is no need for long-drawn-out educational requirements. The journey starts as soon as you step foot into the kitchen.
For years, co-owner Alecia’s daughter has used the imagery of the woods as a safe space when feeling overwhelmed by memories of sexual abuse during her childhood. Co-owners Bernadette and Alecia are focused on making Moonwood an environment where abuse survivors can work and gain skills they can take wherever they go next on their journey of healing.
Moonwood Coffee Co. co-owner Alecia Draper first noticed that something had changed with her daughter when she began to fall behind her third-grade classmates. She began to have hearing loss and vision problems (ie. dyslexia). Alecia did not realize, that these are only a couple of the myriad of symptoms of childhood molestation and severe emotional and sexual abuse. During recovery from a suicide attempt at 17, her daughter revealed the truth. For ten years, her biological father, and Alecia’s ex-husband, had consistently dropped her off to be watched by an adult male friend whenever she was within his custody. This man abused, threatened, and manipulated her for years. Alecia’s daughter has developed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) as a response to her trauma. Moonwood Movement is a unique program for those who share similar stories with her daughter. Alecia and her daughter know that there is hope for a future, and seek to share that with other survivors. Moonwood Movement is here to help survivors learn the vocational skills needed to have full cups, full ovens, and full futures.
According to the CDC Violence Prevention, Child sexual abuse is a significant but preventable public health problem. Many children wait to report or never report child sexual abuse. Although estimates vary across studies, the data shows:
Experiencing child sexual abuse is an adverse childhood experience (ACE) that can affect how a person thinks, acts, and feels over a lifetime, resulting in short- and long-term physical and mental/emotional health consequences.
Examples of physical health consequences include:
Examples of mental health consequences include:
Examples of behavioral consequences include:
Adults must take the steps needed to prevent child sexual abuse. Adults are responsible for ensuring that all children have safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Resources for child sexual abuse have mostly focused on treatment for victims and criminal justice-oriented approaches for perpetrators. While these efforts are important after child sexual abuse has occurred, little investment has been made in primary prevention, or preventing child sexual abuse before it occurs. Limited effective evidence-based strategies for proactively protecting children from child sexual abuse are available. More resources are needed to develop, evaluate, and implement evidence-based child sexual abuse primary prevention strategies to ensure that all children have safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Our goal is to raise awareness, create effective and comprehensive early childhood programs that teach children safety and offer support surrounding childhood molestation, and sexual abuse prevention. We believe this needs to begin within our elementary school system.
Eventually, Alecia moved to California with her three children. Though her family was devastated after finding out about the long term severe sexual and emotional abuse, Alecia knew she could use her knowledge and skillset to bring light back into their lives. In 2017, Alecia Draper purchased Moondwood Coffee Co. with her business partner, Bernadette Ellis. Through Moonwood Coffee Co., they are dedicated to training survivors the vocational skills needed to move forward and live independently in a secure and comfortable environment which they need to heal.
Alecia is using her years of expertise in the baking industry, as well as her knowledge as the primary caretaker (and legal conservator) for a child molestation and sexual assault survivor, to make Moonwood Coffee Co. kitchen a safe haven for those who are on the lifelong journey of healing.
Through Moonwood Coffee Co., Bernadette, along with her partner Alecia, has committed to creating a space where child sex-abuse survivors can work and gain the knowledge they need to succeed within the baking industry. Through her businesses and within her free time, Bernadette is dedicated to helping educate and support those within the survivor community. In her free time, Bernadette is also very passionate about helping with food donations to the homeless and volunteering with Feed America.
