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ABOUT US
Our Mission is to provide education, intervention and support to families and individuals dealing with domestic violence, sexual abuse and missing loved ones.
WE ARE A FAMILY - WHETHER BY BLOOD, BY MARRIAGE OR BY COMMON CAUSE.
Stephanie was missing for 87 days.
During those 87 days, we formed groups consisting of over a 1000 people at different times to search for her. The accused perpetrator took his own life a short time after these searches started after being released from jail on unrelated charges. We later learned that Stephanie had been murdered in an act of domestic violence. Our worst nightmare was confirmed. We learned of the epidemic that is domestic violence firsthand. According to estimates by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and statistics of the FBI, approximately 16,441 individuals were victims of domestic violence homicides in the last ten years. Stephanie's life was cut short just shy of 26 years. She deserved better. All victims of domestic violence deserve better yet 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men experience domestic violence in their lifetime. This is a staggering statistic and we knew we could not stop after Stephanie was found. We hope through this foundation to help as many victims as we can have a chance to live the life they deserve.
We knew that 1 of the most helpful things for us in the very beginning, talking to a family member of another missing person who was never found but her murderer was convicted. We realized that if we all came together the way we did in our searches for Stephanie that together, we could do so much good for victims of domestic violence and families of the missing. We are not search and rescue experts, we learned so much on the fly during those 3 months. However, if we share what we learned with families of the missing and if just one person gets found a little faster; and hopefully safe, we will have honored Stephanie. She deserves the legacy we are trying to create. We plan to build the foundation so that Stephanie’s legacy will live on forevermore.
This will be a fluid foundation as we hope to address needs as they arise and gaps that may exist in the already existing wonderful organizations out there.
Overall, we just hope to do good and help families going through the worst nightmare of their lives. We made it through ours, damaged and heartbroken but each time we help someone to endure such a tragedy, we will heal.
ABOUT STEPHANIE
Stephanie Parze was a 25-year old young woman with her whole life ahead of her.
She was a student athlete, a talented artist, and a compassionate, loyal friend to everyone she met. Her natural born talent as an artist brought her much joy as a make-up artist. She also loved children and enjoyed spending time on the beach, on the river, or on the ocean. Whether it was chilling out on the beach, rafting, crabbing, or fishing, Stephanie loved to have fun. Sharing these pastimes with family and friends has created a legacy of amazing memories.
During the summer of 2019, Stephanie met and became involved with someone new. During this time, she had been extremely sick, and he was very attentive to her. What started out as an apparently caring relationship, soon turned violent. After enduring physical, sexual, and emotional abuse during their on-and-off-again relationship, Stephanie disappeared the night of October 30, 2019. After 87 days of searching by a countless number of family, friends, community members and law enforcement, her body was found on January 26, 2020.
Stephanie’s fate, while tragic, created an overwhelming desire to develop a unique organization that would bridge the gap in services for people in domestic violence, sexual abuse, and missing persons situations. That is why the
Stephanie Nicole Parze Foundation was created - to prevent future domestic violence relationships from ending this way. We aim to provide quality, compassionate, and nonjudgmental services to all who need it.
The Stephanie Nicole Parze Foundation’s mission is to provide education, intervention, and support to families and individuals dealing with domestic violence, sexual abuse and missing loved ones. Training to learn how to deal with these situations and setting up response teams for missing persons throughout the community.
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