I Support the Girls :: Rachael Heger in the Momlight
Did you know that coming up in October will be both Breast Cancer Awareness and Domestic Violence Awareness Month? What better time to talk about an organization {and a local mom} working hard to support women in need right in our own city? We sat down with Rachael Heger from I Support the Girls {ISTG}, to get the story of how this Indy mom has dedicated herself to supporting women - literally and figuratively! - in the Circle City, and even internationally.
Courtesy Gabrielle Cheikh Photography
Established in 2015 by Executive Director Dana Marlowe, ISTG is a global nonprofit that provides bras, new underwear, pads, and tampons to people in need. And in late 2015, Rachael peeked an article about Dana’s impressive donation of 1,000 bras. The next thing she knew, she was inspired to post a call out on Facebook encouraging those in the Indy community to join her in donating too. Rachael recalls, “I was shocked that my friends gave 99 bras that first day. They were in incredible condition and a huge amount of sizes and styles, many new with tags or had barely been touched.”
WE'VE LOVED RACHAEL FROM THE START: A peek back at our Boobs + Brews event in 2017
What started out in January 2016 as a simple New Year’s resolution to collect 3500 bras by her 35th birthday later that year {a goal she met in just 88 days} turned into a full time job “kind of by accident,” Rachael explains. By March she had stepped into the role of National Director of Affiliate Outreach for ISTG and has since seen her role expand from supervising five Affiliates collecting and distributing donations to a whopping 58 Affiliates worldwide {and counting}. Located across the U.S. as well as in countries including Australia, Canada, and Pakistan, ISTG has to date donated 11 million products to over 2200 social service organizations-talk about a successful resolution!
Rachael serves as the point person, not just for the Affiliates she oversees but also for anyone who is interested in hosting a drive or for ISTG’s brand partners who wish to donate their products directly. ISTG serves and supports a wide variety of organizations: homeless and domestic violence shelters, LGBTQ youth groups, Title I schools, addiction rehab facilities, migrant farming communities...the list goes on and on and continues to grow. It’s no shock that this former librarian {think: major organizational skills} is able to manage massive quantities of tampons, bras, toiletries, and more. Rachael observes that it’s about “knowing who needs what, who has what, and building those relationships” so that Affiliates can get products out quickly to those in need of them. “Unfortunately, the need is huge. It’s ongoing. We still haven’t solved this problem.”
ISTG partner, Lola, provides products for women in need.
Not surprisingly, the current pandemic has only worked to exacerbate the challenges that lead people to seek out support. ISTG has seen a 35% increase in requests for products and specifically an increase in needs driven by domestic violence: women are even more hesitant to leave their abusers and go to a shelter due to overcrowding and fear that they’ll be exposed to COVID-19. In response, October 1st marked ISTG’s launch of D.A.S.H. {Dignity, Aid, Safety, and Hygiene} Kits, care packages designed to support domestic violence victims fleeing from their abuser.
MOMMAS MAKING OUR CITY GREAT? Check out Turae Dabney-Mumford from People for Urban Progress
Rachael radiates pride as she talks about the many programs that ISTG has established in Indy and beyond. “Personally, I’m very, very proud of our prison outreach and being able to actually get into the Indiana Women’s Prison and help those women. It took a huge amount of work, time, and money to get that accomplished.” She is continually advocating to do more in this setting, currently working to provide bras to transgender clients as well. “Helping the prison population is the most difficult group to reach.”
Despite the heart-wrenching stories and situations she encounters, Rachael emphasizes that keeping a sense of humor is key.
“My job sometimes feels like it’s 80% cheerleading and encouraging and lifting folks up, and I really enjoy that.” When she’s not buried under piles of undergarments and menstrual products, Rachael spends time with her husband Loren, 8 year old daughter Miriam, Pomeranian Millhouse, and feral cat Sunny. They live in Meridian-Kessler, which they love for the old homes and convenient location. Favorite pastimes include eating, traveling, and reading: “I love traveling by myself. I love love love traveling by myself. I think every woman should absolutely do that as much as they can. I highly recommend it.”
Mailing DASH Kits out to the world!
Rachael clearly isn’t one to shy away from a challenge, and she’s quick to issue one to theCityMoms and our readers too:
“You want to help women in your backyard? This is what you need to do: Next time you go to Target, next time you go to Costco, buy a box of pads for women in need. The ability to buy large sized bras on clearance at Kohl’s is great. If you don’t have one of these things, the value is priceless.” ISTG’s biggest request at the moment is to donate the cost of shipping for a D.A.S.H. Kit. A donation of $25 will get one of these into the hands of a survivor.
ISTG welcomes community support through product drives, individual donations, and monetary support. Rachael invites emails {reach out if you know of an organization in need!}, or keep up with the work of ISTG via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Indy native Melissa Ranck is a social worker turned stay-at-home mom {who “stays at home the least” according to her friends–she loves ALLLL the play dates!} to three boys ages 9, 7, and 4. She is a preschool volunteer extraordinaire and also spends lots of time with the teens she leads in her church’s youth group. Melissa’s favorites include binge watching trash TV, McDonald’s Coke, napping, cooperative preschool, and novels with unbelievable happy endings.
