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Artist News
Mary J Blige opens centre for abused women
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 2 November 2009
Mary J Blige has stepped up her campaigning to help victims of domestic abuse by opening a refuge for women in New York State. Blige has been increasingly vocal in her support for women abused by their husbands in recent years, having been quite open about the alleged domestic abuse that prevailed in her own childhood home before her father walked out when she was aged four.
Having founded the Foundation For the Advancement Of Women Now last year, Blige has teamed up with Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini and several New York-based organisations to fund the opening of a new centre for women, based in Yonkers.
Talking to CNN about the project, she said: “All age ranges will be able to come to this centre. Women from all walks of life, not just women from poverty-stricken areas. Whatever it is, they’ll be able to come here. There are gonna be psychologists here, doctors here, day care centres here. Anything that you need or they need to be able to better themselves is here for them”.
Talking about the importance of celebrities embracing good causes, especially those where they have personal experience of hardship, Blige added: “That’s why I think as celebrities we’re given this job. We’re not given this job to just hold onto this stuff and die with it. We’re given this job to be able to touch someone and say, ‘me, too’, because they look up to us and look to us for help and guidance and want to be able to relate to us”.