Angel Faces Retreat – Truly A Soft Place To Fall, A Solid Foundation For Growth
Elizabeth Malone
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 133032
The Woodlands, TX 77393
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Angel Faces Retreat – Truly A Soft Place To Fall, A Solid Foundation For Growth
Encinitas, CA – For young girls with severe and permanent disfigurement from burns or other traumatic injuries, the cruelty of the world can be almost unbearable. The stares, name-calling, teasing and cruelty of others create a sort of living hell for this special group of survivors. Lesia Cartelli knows this is true, because she lived through it herself. Her desire to heal from a serious burn injury over 50% of her face and body at the age of nine in a natural gas explosion encouraged her to create Angel Faces® for girls who suffer similar disfiguring burns and other traumatic injuries.
Angel Faces® is a national, not-for-profit organization, headquartered in Encinitas, California, whose mission is to provide healing retreats and ongoing support for adolescent girls and young women with severe and permanent disfigurement from burn/trauma injuries to achieve their optimum potential and develop meaningful relationships for themselves, their families, and their communities.
This year, the retreat for adolescent girls with severe disfigurements will be held in Wolfeboro, NH from June 21-28, with a Level 2 Retreat being added for Leadership and Mentorship training, to include Emotional Intelligence, at Brewster Academy for women ages 19-29. The girls attending this retreat are flown in from cities all around the nation.
During the multi-day intensive retreat, survivors hear first-hand from Cartelli and others who have endured serious traumatic injuries and the long road to recovery. The young girls work closely with licensed therapists to share and explore ways to facilitate emotional healing and meet others with similar struggles. They learn new tools that will help them increase their self-esteem, decrease their depressive symptoms, and have a better quality of life. Most important of all, they are given hope that they can create the life they desire through empowerment.
“The retreat is only one small component,” Cartelli explains. “We see the power in the program when the girls go back home. We receive calls, cards and emails from the parents and medical centers about how confident and content their daughter or patient is since she has returned — she joined a sports or academic team at school or now is going to prom, or interviewing for a first job, ending their social death.”
The unique retreats and aftercare programs focus on the healing process within a holistic framework of mind, heart, and spirit. In addition to art therapy and private, corrective-cosmetic sessions, the program provides licensed therapists to help the girls through their loss and trauma issues, and provides the girls with strategies to handle staring and teasing. The goal of Angel Faces® is to offer a physical, spiritual, and emotional transformation so each girl walks away with a new confidence and a hopeful outlook toward the future with the skills to be excited about their life.
In addition to being a renowned, in-demand speaker and the founder/CEO of Angel Faces®, Lesia Cartelli now adds author to her vast range of talents, having just released her new book, Heart of Fire (Carlyle Publishing). In her authentic open voice, Lesia delivers hope and inspiration to those who are struggling with pain, emotional or physical, and demonstrates how to discover blessings and gifts within any type of challenge. For anyone who has been through hard times and seeks inspiration and hope, this heart-warming, often humorous, book is a must read.
For more information on the retreat or to donate to this worthy cause, please visit the Angel Faces® website at www.angelfaces.com, or purchase Lesia’s book at www.lesiacartelli.com.
Tags: adolescent, Angel Faces Retreat, Ascot Media Group, Carlyle Publishing, Encinitas CA, girls, Heart of Fire, Lesia Cartelli, non-profit, Trish Stevens