By Bob Allen
Former Baptist Women in Ministry leader Kathy Manis Findley recently received an award from the FBI recognizing her efforts to combat domestic violence and child abuse in Arkansas.
FBI Special Agent Valerie Parlave (left) presents award to Kathy Manis Findley.
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Findley, a 1977 graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who was Baptist Women Ministry president in 1995-96 while serving as pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., in the 1990s, started the charitable non-profit organization Safe Places in 2002.
The organization, which offers services free of charge statewide to victims of sexual assault, family violence, child abuse, human trafficking and other forms of violence, is a mission partner of the Alliance of Baptists.
The FBI’s Little Rock field office presented Findley with the 2011 Director’s Community Leadership Award for lifelong efforts described in Safe Place’s mission statement: “To create communities where every child is protected, every home is a safe place, and where every person can live free from violence.”
Findley previously was honored in 2008 by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. In 2009 she was named Arkansas Business Nonprofit Executive of the Year and was featured in the High Profile section of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on Oct. 24, 2010.
A native of Birmingham, Ala., with a master-of-divinity degree in pastoral counseling, Findley is author of two books. Voices of Our Sisters and The Survivor’s Voice: Healing the Invisible Wounds of Violence and Abuse.
She also wrote a 228-page curriculum manual for faith communities and clergy available from Safe Places titled If This Is Not a Place: A Violence Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum for Communities of Faith and Clergy.