4 minute read
Melissa Histon: Harnessing the Power of Community
As we all collectively begin to recover from the effects of the past year, it is time to look forward to 2021. Among those of us planning ahead is Melissa Histon, empowered as ever and ready to continue making her positive impact on the world.
Amongst other things, the past year has seen a rise in people supporting their local community, be it through actively supporting Australian-owned businesses to simply reaching out and offering support to their friends, family and neighbours. No one is a better champion for this community empowerment than Melissa Histon.
The founder and CEO of Hunter-based foundation Got Your Back Sista and The Sista Code works tirelessly in her humanitarian endeavours, continuing to host her podcast Hey Soul Sista and expanding the philanthropic efforts of Got Your Back Sista to a retail store, all throughout changing social restrictions.
“No one had a crystal ball. We didn't know how it was going to play out,” Melissa said of the challenges faced this year. Entering hustle mode, a lot of 2020’s focus was simply on surviving.
Melissa founded online community The Sista Code in 2014 after surviving breast cancer and learning of the impact of sex-trafficking in third world regions. She soon quit her corporate day job and shifted her sights in favour of philanthropy and activism related to the empowerment of women. The Sista Code quickly grew from women sharing their own stories to hosting fundraising projects and events. This led to the creation of Got Your Back Sista in 2016, the charitable arm of the foundation that directly gives aid and support to women and their children escaping domestic violence.
The organisation’s second-hand retail store Village People, opened in Islington in March 2020, offers highquality donated second-hand and brand-new clothing and homewares with proceeds going to Got Your Back Sista. The store also directly supports women getting back on their feet by offering work experience that credits toward a Cert II in Retail Services.
“Sometimes when you're doing something that’s out of your comfort zone, you just need someone to hold your hand through that.” Melissa said.
Support has continued to flow in for various projects and fundraising initiatives coordinated by the foundation, including teams of people on the ground renovating and organising temporary housing and shelters for others across the Hunter region. It is this support that has really shown Melissa the power of community.
“I've become much more aware of social issues and the plight of women and people experiencing abuse,” she said. “But I've also seen awareness grow… it's hard to stand on a corner and go, ‘Hey, everybody, look, I'm standing against domestic violence’, but if you get a crowd of, you know, 100, 200, 300, 1000…”
Even after each episode of her podcast, Hey Soul Sista, Melissa is moved by listeners reaching out to herself or the guests with gratitude.
“‘Thank you for talking about that’, ‘I really needed to hear that today’, or ‘Actually, that happened to me’. You know, that's the power of community – people not feeling so alone, and not feeling like they're the only ones going through a tough time, or the only ones who have experienced a challenge or a hardship,” she said.
As we look forward to a world more aware and more receptive to social issues related to people of colour, women and LGBTQIA+ individuals, Melissa continues to feel even more empowered to create change in this world and foster a greater sense of community. She asks the question, ‘How do we bring about healing?’
“2021 is about harnessing the power of community for the empowerment of women,” she said.
As far as projects are concerned, it’s an exhaustive list and includes firsts for Melissa, such as producing a short film that will shine more light on The Sista Code’s main focus areas, as well as rescheduling many of the events pushed back in 2020. She is also partnering with local businesses that have similar values – empowering women and uplifting individuals in need or crisis – that will help the organisation, and Melissa, to thrive.
“That's something I absolutely believe. I want to seek out those organisations that really have those same core ethos and values… we can save more people by working together.”
Follow Melissa Histon on Instagram @melissahiston and keep up to date with her philanthropic efforts @GotYourBackSista
photographer James Bennett written by Nadene Budden
