Tough Angels

Tough Angels, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Denver, Colorado, USA, under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Our goal is to assist in creating safe havens for women and children of violence in developing countries, providing information to educate them about HIV and supporting them in restoring dignity, hope, and promoting healing.

About the founder

For more than 30 years, Patricia Melnice has been involved in volunteer work with various organizations, customarily focused on issues concerning the wellbeing, protection and empowerment of women and children. While Melnice is a graduate from the Art Institute with a degree in fashion, her professional background has largely been in Emergency Services, which began at the age of 16, dispatching for the local police and State Patrol. This launched countless pathways in which to function in emergency situations. Melnice worked for a major metropolitan fire department, was appointed to the Command Post for disaster relief and the relocation of Hurricane Katrina victims in Colorado, and completed a 6-month tour of duty on the Antarctica Fire Department in the Communication’s Center which supports the National Science Foundation. Patricia Melnice played an integral role in the development of the Fire Academy at Red Rocks Community College and subsequently became an instructor in the Fire Science program. Melnice was also trained as a volunteer with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) where she advocated for children in court, in addition to earning the title of “Cuddler”, a volunteer position in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Presbyterian/St. Lukes Hospital.

After 24 years of marriage and then finding herself standing in the wreckage of a divorce, Melnice knew the pathway to healing involved dedicating time and energy to serving others and focusing on something bigger than the divorce. She quit her much-loved job as a visual stylist with Neiman Marcus, put her belongings in storage, traveled alone to South Africa where she lived for 6 months, volunteering alongside an organization that rescued children that had been raped. Their youngest case, though not uncommon, was a 4-month old infant that eventually died from her injuries. From point of rescue to the final court proceedings, Patricia Melnice worked extensively with the child victims, the police, Child Protective Services, the hospitals and the judicial system to address what is now an epidemic problem in Africa. Many of these atrocities can be blamed on a tribal myth that expects a cure and/or purification from AIDS can be obtained by having sex with a virgin child.

While the rape cases Patricia Melnice worked on were incomprehensible and savagely painful, the bigger story for her became about Africa and her women and children and their capacity to still see beauty and grace in a world that had seemingly slighted them in so many ways. She discovered their ability to love, laugh, and live in a state of honor and appreciation for their existence was extraordinary given their lifetimes of slavery, poverty, and oppression. Their praise for the sky, the air they breathe, and the reverent sisterhood they clung to between each other taught Melnice a powerful lesson about gratitude and the strength and courage available when we are linked.

While in South Africa, Melnice was inspired to help one particular Zulu single mom, Lady Fair, who had 2 biological children, 1 grandchild, and cared for 11 orphans she had rescued from the streets. They all lived in a tiny tin shack with no running water or electricity and slept on the floor. When the rain came, it left the family soaked and cold and Melnice was determined to help Lady Fair. Having spent her savings to travel and stay in Africa, Melnice decided to pawn her wedding ring to begin to raise money to help Lady Fair build a house. This effort eventually evolved into a fund raising effort, “The Wedding Ring Project”, where others can donate their unused, unwanted, broken or repurposed jewelry to Tough Angels, Inc. in order to continue the work of Melnice. (Lady Fair now lives in a new house with running water, electricity, and a solid foundation.)

Tough Angels, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization is devoted to creating safety for women and children of violence, and to provide education scholarships for indigent children in developing countries.

Tough Angels raised the funds to contribute to a school in the slums of Kenya to keep it open and operating and is currently planning a return trip to S. Africa where she will partner with an established organization with the vision of creating safety and education for women and children of violence. It was not uncommon for Melnice to participate in the rescue of a raped child only to discover there was no place to house the child because the safe houses were filled to capacity. Unless the victim returned home with Melnice to await foster placement, the victims were often forced to return to the place the crime occurred or staying on the street for lack of any alternatives. Frequently, this led to further abuse or child trafficking.

Says Melnice of her humanitarian efforts, “I don’t have all the answers but I do know one person can indeed make a difference. It doesn’t have to be a 6-month stay in a developing country, working in the trenches. We can all make a difference right outside our backdoor and it costs nothing. Kindness, compassion, respect for others, and the absolute obligation we all have to protect children . . . this is our responsibility as human beings and to life.”

Please contact Patricia Melnice at 303.880.8086 or visit www.toughangels.org for further information. Your support is deeply appreciated! Read about it, talk about it, pray about it, donate to our cause, but please don’t act like you don’t know about the adversity others face on a daily basis. With your help, we can make a difference for innocent women and children around the world. We are confident that by providing a child with an education, it is the best route to influencing change in improved health, unraveling tribal myths around rape and gives them a fighting chance at lifting themselves out of hunger, danger and extreme poverty.

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”

Ryunosuke Satoro