PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: THE R.O.S.E. FUND: FREE RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The R.O.S.E. Fund (Regaining One's Self-Esteem) is a national non-profit organization that is committed not only to ending domestic violence against women and children but also to helping victims regain their self-esteem and rebuild their lives. They have formed an alliance with the Facial and Cosmetic Surgery Center of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in order to provide free facial reconstructive surgery to qualified women who have been disfigured by an abuser.

The R.O.S.E. Fund and the Eye and Ear Infirmary will provide free facial reconstructive surgery for up to six domestic violence victims a year. Prospective women are selected for the surgery based on the amount of counseling they have received, the safety of their present living environment, and an application process. Operations may range from simple scar removal to repairing facial fractures.

The Boston Globe (7/6/2000) chronicled the benefits of this program for both patient and care provider. The article told of a woman who recently received free reconstructive eyelid surgery six years after a brutal attack. She remarked that the surgery was a crucial element to her arduous road to recovery. Mending her physical scars helped heal her mental scars as well. R.O.S.E. Fund executive director, Barbara Wandyes and volunteer doctors at Mass Eye and Ear explained that extending help to victims of domestic violence shows that someone cares for and believes in them, and that they should not feel ashamed. The goal of these care providers is to "remove some of the daily reminders of the past they are trying to forget."

For further information about the R.O.S.E. Fund and/or to request an application for facial reconstructive surgery, please contact them at (617) 482-5400 or visit their website at http://www.rosefund.org

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