Denese Lopez is the founder and executive director of W.E.L.L. Organization. Denese was raised by a single mother and grew up in Pico Rivera, California. Denese became a mother at 16 years old and struggled and fought to make ends meet and further her education. Denese is a wife, mother and grandmother. She is a retired police officer from the state of California.

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Denese spent time volunteering in domestic violence shelters and saw first-hand the pain DV victims endured after escaping their abuser. She spoke with these women and heard their pain and anguish wondering how they would start over again after leaving everything behind.

 

Denese went through a domestic violence education program and learned about the lives of women and children who were forced to start life in a new environment. She knew in her heart she had to do something to honor these families. It became her passion to find a way to restore their dignity, self-worth and security. As a single mother herself for many years, she understood the hardships of making ends meet and living in a home that was put together with bits and pieces donated from other people. She longed to have a home furnished with things her and her children personally chose rather than what was donated to them. Although she appreciated everything she was given, when she finally was able to put her own home together with her personal touch, she knew every woman and child should experience that same feeling of dignity.

 

It was with through life experience and a heart to help survivors of abuse, that she began the W.E.L.L. Organization.