So why the elephant?
Well, it comes from a story about female elephants...
​
When a mama elephant is giving birth, all the other female elephants in the herd back around her in FORMATION. They stomp and kick up dirt to throw attackers off the scent and surround the mama and incoming baby in protection.
When the baby elephant is delivered, the sister elephants all start trumpeting in celebration of new life!
​
Scientists tell us this: They take this FORMATION in only two cases - when under attack by predators or during the birth of a baby elephant.
​
This is what we do too. When our sisters are vulnerable...we get in FORMATION.
​
And when new life makes its entrance, when healing finally begins, we sound our trumpets because we saw it through together. We celebrate! We cheer! We raise our glasses and give thanks.
​​​​
Summarized from the story by Jen Hatmaker
Heaven's Story​​
Freedom is the presence of dignity, autonomy, safety, and the opportunity to thrive. These are God-given rights, yet too many live without them.
​
At The Formation Project, we believe freedom must be built every day—and it cannot be built alone. True freedom, resilience, and thriving are only possible in community.
​
This truth was made clear through Heaven’s story. A survivor who escaped her trafficker, achieved sobriety, regained custody of her children, and built a stable life—by every measure, a “success story.” Yet, after four years, she died alone from an overdose. She had services, but not the community she needed to share her struggles.
​
Heaven’s story reshaped our mission: to build a community where every survivor finds freedom, prosperity, and justice. At TFP, healing happens together—because freedom is not just the absence of exploitation, but the presence of community, belonging, and hope.
​
Freedom is the presence of dignity, autonomy, safety, and the opportunity to thrive. Though these are God-given rights, too many in our community and nation live without them.
​
Freedom is not guaranteed—it must be built, every day.
​
And freedom, resilience, and thriving are never built alone. They are built together, in community.​​​