After their father, a successful landscaper, died, each of the girls received a $100,000 inheritance. Karen, out of rehab by this time, began to follow her dream: to start an organization that will help women rebuild their lives after drug addiction and abuse. Kim, literally rescued near death from a street corner, eventually cleaned herself up through rehab as well. Karen and Kim reunited with several professionals to build Safe Havens For Little People, an organization named after their father's dying words and aimed at helping abused and addicted women leave welfare, get reunited with their children, and turn their lives around.

"My father said, 'Help the children, they're little people.' My father was a huge inspiration to me at the birth of this organization," Karen says.

Started in 1998, Safe Havens For Little People quickly took shape through donations small and large. Three years after its inception, Safe Havens For Little People was designated a certified welfare-to-work program in Contra Costa County of California.

"We are committed to the economic independence of the women who come to us for assistance," says Karen. "We offer a 12-month transitional housing and job-training program through our W.E.L.L. model (Work, Earn, Live & Learn) to help women build their work skills, life skills and gain real self-sufficiency. Upon completion of the training, we have a variety of employment opportunities waiting for them as we continue to mentor them as graduates."

Safe Havens For Little People also offers transitional housing, daycare, mortgage banker training, drug counseling, educational programs, and a wealth of other services and opportunities for women escaping lives of domestic violence, drug abuse, and welfare. It aims at reuniting families, fighting for welfare reform, and empowering women into success.

With success in California—having helped 150 women and 85 children in the past year alone—Karen is seeking to expand Safe Havens For Little People across the country by starting a pilot program in each of the 50 states. A large source of funding for the programs is the "A Sister's Love" product line invented by Karen and Kim. The product line includes candles, soaps, lotions, a cookbook, cooking sauces, and more. Helping to spread their message, Karen also teamed with professional author, Christian Fisher, and wrote a book about their lives titled Keep Showing Up: Living & Healing Beyond Welfare & Abuse released last year. It can be ordered through Amazon.com, Borders Books & Music, and Barnes & Noble.

"Our organization has helped women pull themselves off of welfare (even third-generation welfare recipients), re-enter society after prison, leave shelters, rebuild their lives after violent relationships, overcome homelessness, get their children back from child protective services, and continue sobriety after drug programs. We help women transition back into society. We stand up for these women publicly and are fighting to reform the current government systems in place. Just the way these women are judged and treated by the very systems that are supposed to help them often does more harm than good," says Karen.