(WSVN) - Most people would love to live the life of a model or movie star, but one local woman says the glitz and glamour weren’t enough to heal her troubled past. 7’s Jessica Holly shows us how she gave up everything to give others a helping hand.
Since the age of 15, Somy has graced hundreds of movie screens and magazines. Growing up, she seemed to have it all.
Somy Ali, No More Tears founder: “My father was a film producer in Pakistan and a director. We lived in a 26-bedroom mansion, so I grew up very wealthy.”
But her life behind the glamour and money was filled with abuse and fear.
Somy Ali: “My brother and I were both victims of sexual abuse. I was abused by the house help at age 5; there was another incident when I was 9.”
Somy says no amount of money or fame could heal her wounds, so she turned to helping others.
Somy Ali: “I’ve done the designer clothes, the designer purses, and I’ve lived that life, and it didn’t do anything for me.”
Somy took all of her savings and started No More Tears, an organization that helps victims get back on their feet.
Somy Ali: “Getting them a job, attorneys, medical assistance, OB-GYN. Many of them have never been to a dentist, some of them have never been to an eye doctor.”
That support is exactly what “Mya” needed.
She is hiding her face as a victim of sex trafficking, but she is not hiding her story.
“Mya,” sex trafficking victim: “This is my first time ever saying it in public and definitely on camera.”
As a teen, Mya was forced into sex trafficking by her own family.
She worked the streets across the Southeast, including right here in Miami Beach.
It was all she knew, but when she was almost killed, she found a way out.
Mya: “I had a guy put a gun to my head, and when that happened, it was just like a reality flash for me.”
Miami Police were able to get Mya away from her captors, but she was left with only the clothes on her back.
Mya: “I didn’t know how I could get my identification back. I didn’t know how I could get a place to stay. I didn’t know how I could get my next meal. I had nothing, absolutely nothing.”
No More Tears found Mya a home, took her to the doctor and gave her supplies to get her new life started. And Somy became the family Mya never had.
Mya: “For her to actually want to hand me things to help me and just give them to me freely, was really a shock.”
Somy has been recognized many times for her work, but none of those awards mean as much as the feeling she gets from helping victims get their lives back.
Somy Ali: “This was given to me by two little girls that were victims of severe abuse. When I sit at my desk and I look at it, it just makes me very happy.”
No More Tears has a fundraising event on March 28 at The Wilder in Fort Lauderdale.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
No More Tears event:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/happy-hour-benefiting-no-more-tears-at-the-wilder-tickets-43323280097
No More Tears website:
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