The Arriviste: Jeremy Piven, Caitlyn Jenner, & Ne-Yo Presenting a Good Face for Face Forward.

Monday, September 24, 2018

Jeremy Piven, Caitlyn Jenner, & Ne-Yo Presenting a Good Face for Face Forward.

By Laura Medina

When Beverly Hills and Hollywood come together for a fundraiser, they do it big with a big heart.

Alright, if people missed out during the TV industry's Emmy Weekend, Face Forward follows it in its footsteps and use the reason of doing a "do-over" to raise money to for reconstructive/plastic surgery for facial damaged victims of terrorism and domestic abuse victims. With a fresh face, victims will have the self-esteem and the self-confidence to move on and move up to rise above the terrorists and the bullying abusers.

Plastic surgeons go out of their way to reconstruct the physical to rebuild the mentality and the emotions of these patients.

How do they pay for this?

Easy, Face Forward throws annually gala to cover the cost every year.

Maxium Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd, the couple of "Dancing With The Stars," showed their hearts on the red carpet.

Mrs. Deborah Alessi founded Face Forward in 2007. As a survivor of domestic violence herself, Deborah is a true an advocate of this worthy cause. To help other survivors get a second chance at life, Mrs. Alessi recruited her husband and renowned facial reconstructive surgeon Dr. David Alessi M.D. Their goal, to create a healthy, happy, and safe environment for survivors and their children.

One in three women and one in seven men in the United States alone have been victims of severe physical abuse from an intimate partner. Approximately two-thirds of reported domestic violence incidents are classified as “simple assaults”, which result in disfigurements that are at least as serious as 90% of all rapes and robberies. Sadly, there are very few treatment options for victims of abuse.

Victims of human trafficking are subject to physical injuries and psychological and emotional abuse on a daily basis. Injuries such as broken bones, concussions, burns, traumatic brain injury are but a few physical issues. 75 % suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and PTSD. A staggering 50% of trafficking victims are under the age of 16.

It is estimated that an act of domestic violence occurs every 15 seconds somewhere in the United States. That figure translates to over 2.5 million victims per year. The effects of continued or traumatic abuse are lasting and indelible. From broken noses and cheekbones, stab wounds, burns and acid attacks, these assaults often result in serious disfigurements which due to high medical costs involved, lack of insurance and support, often go untreated for many years. These marks are a constant reminder of a tortuous past and significantly affect the ability of abuse survivors to interact with the public, erase the past and find courage to move forward with dignity.

The mission of Face Forward is to provide physical and emotional reconstruction for women, children and men who have been victimized by domestic violence, human trafficking or any cruel acts of crime. Face Forward vows to provide each survivor with the best possible treatment to help repair both the internal and external scars, all at no cost to the patient.

Face Forward wasn’t created just to remove the physical damage caused by violence. It was created to heal people’s lives and restore their emotional health. We give our patients a “hand up” not a “hand out” and by doing so, they overcome various obstacles in life and with our help, manage to create a better future. By helping them believe that anything is possible, we have seen our patients succeed in many ways. Some have become Advocates, International Motivational Speakers, Founders of their own Non-Profit Organization and much more.

A proof of reinventation and fortunate enough to benefit from reconstructive surgery, Caitlyn Jenner shows her support for Face Forward patient, a London acid attack patient, Andreas Christopheros, UK Acid Attack Survivor case of mistaken identity.