Have you ever met someone who was so determined to make a difference in this world? That would be Cloria Brown, whose ‘grit and grace’ impacted so many people in our community, our state and beyond. Cloria joined forces with Monarch in 2013, the year the Refuge home opened and first in our region. She was a “problem-solver extraordinaire”! Cloria saw the bigger picture and went after solutions to make an impact, never bringing glory to herself.
She served as a State Representative in Missouri for several years and advocated for Tax Credits for Crisis Aid International, which brought dollars and awareness about domestic violence, including sex trafficking shelters like Refuge. Always rooting for the underdog, Cloria was about freedom not only for the girls in the Refuge home, but working alongside Lemay Children & Families Services, Veterans Services from Jefferson Barracks and their Food Pantry. She had the perfect balance of being tenacious, humble, faithful and a ‘get-er-done spirit’!
We will miss you, Cloria, and your legacy inspires us to not sit idly by, but continue to stand up for those who do not have a voice. Just a few weeks before her death, in March 2018, Governor Greitens signed Cloria’s legislation at Crisis Aid International to require entities located in areas most likely to see high levels of human trafficking to display a poster with the National Human Trafficking hotline. Even if one trafficked girl receives help from the poster, it will be a life changer… and that perfectly describes the heartbeat of Cloria Brown.
In her honor, Monarch has created a Memorial Necklace inspired by Cloria, called “Grit & Grace.” It is made from a silver-plated flattened spoon, hand-stamped with “Grit & Grace” and embellished with a wrapped pearl. It comes with a silver ball chain necklace, which can be adjusted to size. Funds raised from this necklace go directly to support survivors of sex trafficking in Crisis Aid International’s Refuge home.
