Maria Luisa, who went through the Healed and Restored program, shared her story with gala attendees as life coach and mentor Carmela Morao translated her words into English. (Below) After being healed and restored through faith and prayer, Elza Spaedy launched an organization that has now assisted more than 400 women. (Olivia DiGiovanni | Catholic News Herald) HUNTERSVILLE — The Healed and Restored Gala at St. Mark Parish was a night to remember, raising more than $60,000 in an event that featured a silent auction and speakers whose personal stories touched the hearts of attendees.
“Our community is amazing,” said Elza Spaedy, organization founder. “I mean, you can’t do this type of thing by yourself. It takes a village.”
Funds raised on Sept. 12 will support the organization, whose mission is to heal and restore women dealing with unresolved sexual, emotional or physical trauma.
“We help women transform pain into purpose, transform from victim to survivor, survivor to thriver, to change-maker,” Spaedy said.
The small staff and group of about 25 volunteers serves 20 women a week, providing counseling, life-coaching, workshops, retreats, food and self-help books in English and Spanish, as well as items to boost their self-worth, such as clothing and jewelry.
They have helped transform the lives of 400 women since the group’s inception in 2020.
‘I was never alone’
They have impacted the lives of women like Maria Luisa, who shared her experience with the audience at the gala.
She came to Healed and Restored broken from years of physical and sexual abuse, and through the program, surrendered her trauma to Jesus.
“He showed me that I was never alone, and that I was His beautiful daughter, and He poured out His glory on me, healing my wounds and restoring my heart,” Luisa told the audience.
As Spaedy explained, “We are loving women exactly where they are. We help them, give them what they need, have them heal and guide them back to Christ. They learn how to love themselves again and realize that whatever happened to them does not define them.”
During the minimum of eight weeks of counseling, women begin to untangle the knots of abuse, understand boundaries and self-worth, and learn that they deserve better.
“I have witnessed Elza’s compassion for women who want to find healing and trust,” said event emcee, volunteer and St. Mark parishioner Lisa Modzelewski. “She works relentlessly to this end and wants nothing more than for all women to know the joy of walking in freedom.”
Spaedy recalled her own “freedom walk.” After she was sexually assaulted when she was 9, the trauma festered, causing unhealed wounds, bad relationships, doubts and nightmares that haunted the fragile child and followed her into adulthood.
“It really screws up your identity, and when you don’t know your identity, you are lost,” Spaedy told the audience.
Spaedy and her family moved to Huntersville in 2013 and bonded with St. Mark’s pastor, Father John Putnam, in whom she confided her story.
Father Putnam helped her face that trauma through prayer, novenas, the intercession of the saints, therapy, writing, Eucharistic Adoration, daily Mass and the sacraments.
Working toward a vision
As she worked through her trauma, decades of recurring nightmares dissipated, and a new vision emerged: a large country home with horse stables where women laughed amid green pastures.
Father Putnam encouraged Spaedy to pursue that vision, and he continues to guide her apostolate as its chaplain.
“God will do something wonderful when we open our hearts and say yes,” Father Putnam told the crowd. “Open your hearts, ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and do what God directs you to do, helping these women overcome the damage that the devil reaps with the inhumanity that is so present in our society today.”
Although the vision of a residential healing home is not fully realized, in July 2024 the organization reached a milestone by renting a home with an intake room, counseling area, food pantry, dining area, kitchen and boutique.
St. Mark parishioners donated furniture, clothes and food, while the Knights of Columbus painted, installed cabinets and painted the food pantry.
“This place is a blessing, another example of God opening His doors,” said Spaedy.
Spaedy’s next goal is following her vision to fruition. She hopes to acquire an 8- to 10-acre property and build a home with eight bedrooms to serve women in need.
“Adjacent to this house, we want to have a retreat center, so we can help even more women,” she said. “God is in control.”
— Lisa M. Geraci
Learn more
At www.healedandrestored.org: Support Healed and Restored or sign up to volunteer.