About Me

Greetings!

I am a retired Baptist minister, an artist and an avid blogger. Over the years, I served as a pastor, a hospital chaplain, a trauma specialist and executive director of a nonprofit organization that served victims of violence and abuse.

I have written three books — “Emilie’s Journey,” “Voices of Our Sisters,” and “The Survivor’s Voice: Healing the Invisible Wounds of Violence And Abuse” — and I still enjoy the art of the written word.

In this blog, I have written about virtually everything — from the gnat line to the grace of God. Whatever is on my mind ends up in this serendipitous array of blog posts. As you read them, I hope you laugh at times and weep at other times. I hope you are empowered and inspired.

In addition to this blog, I have a blog of my watercolor paintings at this link:
Kalliope’s Watercolors.

And a Greek Cooking Blog, “Oregano & Olives” at:
http://oreganoolives.wordpress.com/

I hope you enjoy all of my blogs. I would love to hear from you. You may contact me at kathymfindley@gmail.com.

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 The Reverend Kathy Manis Findley was ordained as a minister in the Baptist Church in 1992. She served as Executive Director of Safe Places in Little Rock, has served in the field of victim assistance for over 20 years and has extensive experience in working with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Following her Master’s degree, she did a three year residency in pastoral care and counseling as well as post graduate work in victimology at Washburn University. She is a 2002 graduate of the U.S. Department of Justice National Victim Assistance Academy, and she received advanced practice certification in victim assistance from the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies. She received certification as a trauma specialist from the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists and in 2006 was trained as a child forensic interviewer by the American Prosecutors Research Institute’s National Child Protection Training Center.

She was co-founder and first executive director of Children’s Justice and Protection Center, an organization that served abused children and the first children’s advocacy center in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Findley was selected by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society as the Arkansas Honoree for the 2008 Above and Beyond Citizen Honors, called the most prestigious civilian award in America.

She was named the 2009 Arkansas Business Nonprofit Executive of the Year for her work with Safe Places.

She served as pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas for nine years and worked as a hospital chaplain at Baptist Health Medical Center for four years. She served two terms as president of Baptist Women in Ministry and served on the Board of the Alliance of Baptists and on the Coordinating Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Before her retirement in 2014 she served as Minister of Worship at New Millennium Curch in Little Rock. Currently, she is retired and living with her husband in Macon, Georgia.

She servesd on the faculty of the National College of District Attorney’s Conference on Domestic Violence, is a national speaker and trainer, and is the author of three books and numerous published articles. She has received numerous awards including the International Women’s Peace Power Foundation’s 2006 Woman of Peace Award, the Black Community Developer’s 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award, the 2007 America Society of Victimology Edward R. Stout Victim Practitioner Award, the FBI Director’s Community Service Award and the Arkansas Attorney General’s 2002 Larry Dunklin Award for Excellence and Dedication in Serving Victims of Crime.

Her work in the community includes serving as vice chair of the Little Rock Commission on Children, Youth and Families, chair of the Little Rock Commission on Domestic Violence, and serving on the following organizations: Sixth Judicial District Sexual Abuse Management Team, Pulaski County Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team, Arkansas Women’s Health Workgroup, and the Domestic Violence Committee of the Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence.