WRCNM Executive Director Gail Kloss (left) is pictured receiving a Purses with a Purpose donation from MSP Sgt. Ashley Miller. 

Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan (WRCNM) received a donation of purses through Purses with a Purpose, a benefit created by Michigan State Police (MSP) Trooper Andrea Tillman. The purses are filled with necessities and comfort items to support individuals experiencing domestic abuse and sexual assault.

“In our line of work, we see people leaving horrible situations all the time, and sometimes they can’t even grab necessities like a toothbrush or clean socks,” said Trooper Tillman, assigned to the Cadillac Post. “I saw something online and tweaked the idea to fit our need. That’s how we started Purses with a Purpose.”

Purses with a Purpose has expanded through MSP’s Community Involvement committee of the Women Leading Change Employee Resource Group (ERG) to become a statewide initiative.

More than 6,000 purses and countless comfort items were collected during the most recent donation drive to share with agencies statewide that provide supportive services for survivors. Every MSP district participated and plans to do so again this year.

“Our purpose is to make an impact as women of the Michigan State Police,” said Chelsea Deckler, Chairperson, Women Leading Change ERG. “This effort is women, and men in the department too, helping women in the communities we serve.”

The purses donated to WRCNM will be provided, while supply lasts, to individuals reaching out for the agency’s vital domestic abuse and sexual assault services, such as counseling, advocacy, crisis intervention and the Safe Home.

(Source: MSP Newsroom, www.michigan.gov, March 17, 2022)