When a survivor of sexual violence leaves a hospital after a forensic examination, the evidence collected may include the clothing they arrived in. For Lisa Blanchard, the question that followed – What do they wear home? – became the catalyst for a 15-year effort to restore dignity and remove practical barriers for victims becoming survivors.
Blanchard grew up as an Army brat, born in Alaska and moving with her family to the Washington, D.C., area and later Hawaii. When her father retired from the Army, the family settled in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood. San Jose became the place where she came of age, built her adult life and eventually launched The Grateful Garment Project (TGGP).
TGGP provides clothing, personal-care items, snacks, transportation assistance, therapeutic resources, backpacks and household necessities. None of those items erase trauma, Blanchard said, but they can remove another obstacle: Every item TGGP provides carries a message that the resource was provided by someone who cares.
Blanchard founded The Grateful Garment Project in 2011 while completing an undergraduate human services project. The organization’s programs evolved by listening to partner agencies and the professionals working directly with survivors.
“We started with clothing and toothbrushes,” Blanchard said. “We became a resource partner along the recovery journey.”
The idea grew from a 15-minute conversation with a woman who told her that clothing can be surrendered as evidence following a forensic examination, sometimes leaving victims to leave the hospital in a paper gown or whatever clothing was available.
“I was appalled that this gap existed and inspired at exactly the same time,” Blanchard said.
Her original goal was simple: Make sure new, properly fitting clothing and basic necessities were available when victims needed them. What began as a college project has grown into seven programs supporting people at different points along the healing journey.
TGGP works through a network of more than 100 partner agencies, including hospitals, rape crisis organizations, family justice centers, child advocacy centers, law enforcement agencies, shelters, therapists, schools and colleges.
“For me, dignity is not about restoring someone to their ‘old normal,’” Blanchard said. “Healing often means creating new, healthy norms, new ways of feeling safe, making choices, trusting yourself, caring for yourself and moving forward.”
Over 15 years, Blanchard’s understanding of sexual violence has changed dramatically. She said she once held common misconceptions that victims were primarily women who had made risky choices. Her work dismantled those assumptions.
“There is no single face of a victim or survivor,” she said.
That approach has become particularly important as TGGP expanded its work with survivors of human sexual trafficking and commercially sexually exploited children and minors. For people who have experienced prolonged coercion, manipulation, violence or dependency, leaving exploitation does not automatically create safety or independence. Their needs may continue for years.
One story that has stayed with Blanchard involved a developmentally disabled man who was moving into a safer home after being trafficked by caretakers entrusted with his care. TGGP provided clothing and personal care items, linens, small housewares and other necessities.
“On paper, that can sound like a list of household items,” Blanchard said. “It was really about something much larger: He was finally safe and building a life that belonged to him.”
TGGP is 100% donor-funded and has never received government funding. Blanchard said rising costs and less predictable in-kind donations have made maintaining inventory more challenging. Yet she is proud that TGGP answered every resource request it received during the past year.
The work will be celebrated Oct. 10 at TGGP’s annual DigniTea fundraiser at the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino, marking the organization’s 15th anniversary. Instead of a traditional keynote, actors will perform anonymous stories based on actual experiences reported by partner agencies. The event also will feature a luncheon, silent auction, raffle and wine pull.
Today, TGGP estimates its seven programs are made available to more than 75 victims of sexual violence every day. Partner agencies report serving more than 30,000 victims annually, all of whom have access to TGGP programs if they need or want them.
Most of all, she wants the community to understand that anyone can participate.
“You do not have to work in sexual violence services to be part of the solution,” Blanchard said. “There is a place for you in this work, too, right now.”
Tickets for the DigniTea fundraiser are $90 at https://dignitea2026.charityauction.bid.