jessica nicely/ 202 INSPIRATIONAL MOM /
By Marlene Montanez
DEFINING NICE
Jessica Nicely turns a dark past into a bright future
essica Nicely shouldn’t be alive and well, let alone a shining example in the community. But the mom of two and Gilbert resident has learned to defy the odds and does it well. As an Arizona State University graduate, published author and former Miss Arizona USA, you would think her upbringing was all sunshine and roses. But the scary truth is it was the exact opposite. And she’s using her life experiences to bring about positive change in the Valley. “I’m a victim of child abuse throughout my childhood and that’s why I’m so passionate about it,” Nicely explains. “It has been my focus for a long time and domestic violence as
J
well for the last couple of years.” In addition to having been a spokesperson for Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, sitting on two Arizona Foster Care Review Boards, being a member of the West Valley Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team and Child Abuse Prevention & Awareness Coalition, she recently founded her own organization, Winged Hope. “What we do is domestic violence awareness, prevention and treatment,” she says. “Our main focus is programs that develop Advocacy Centers.” Advocacy Centers help women and children who have dealt with violent crimes such as physical abuse or sexual abuse. Nicely explains that
the Advocacy Centers are a “one stop shop” including specialists from all the areas that would investigate these types of crimes under one roof like Child Protective Services, a physician or nurse, a forensic interviewer and a therapist. “It increases the prosecution rate and is less stressful for the victim. Ninetyfour-percent of the time the persecutor gets some sort of time,” Nicely says. Currently, she’s working on building an Advocacy Center to serve the East Valley Community to help out those that live in Chandler, Tempe and Gilbert. The center is expected to open in early 2014.
202magazine.com / AUGUST 2013 / 202 MAGAZINE
37