Shelters · Advocacy · Survivor services
Trauma-informed safety programs for people already past the incident.
Personal safety and self-defense programs for shelters, advocacy groups and survivor services, where the goal is the return of agency — choice, control and physical confidence — delivered alongside the support your organization already provides.
Shelters · Advocacy · Support programs
When it has already happened.
Most personal safety training quietly assumes the room has never been hurt. In a shelter or an advocacy office that assumption is wrong before the session starts, and the people in front of you feel it immediately.
Standard content asks a survivor to picture an attack and consider what they would do differently. However carefully it is phrased, the implication lands: that the outcome was theirs to change.
That reinforces self-blame and teaches people their body failed them — when their body did what bodies do under threat.
Momba builds the other version. Programs for people already past the incident, where the goal is not prevention but the return of agency: choice, control, and physical confidence. Trauma-aware by design, not adapted later — Carmen's postgraduate research covers PTSD, which is why every physical step is sequenced around consent and predictability rather than pressure and surprise.
What we do differently
- No surprise scenarios, ever — everything is announced before it happens
- No re-enactment of anyone's own experience
- Consent asked at each physical stage, and opting out costs nothing
- Participants choose their level of contact, including none
- Physical skills that work without strength, speed or fitness
- Language that never implies an outcome was preventable
- Sessions that close down deliberately rather than ending on activation
- Advocates and staff welcome in the room throughout
Train the trainer
Your advocates are with your people every week. Momba is not. The point of a program is that it keeps working between visits.
Delivered inside a domestic violence support environment, a church-affiliated shelter, the Department of Veterans Affairs Police Services and youth programs through Girls For A Change — most of it confidential, which is why it is described in general terms. Ongoing arrangements run as a Momba Safety Partnership.
Momba delivers training and education. It is not therapy, counselling or clinical treatment, and it is designed to sit alongside the professional support your organization already provides — never to replace it.
What hosts say.
Carmen led a women’s self defense class for our non-profit and her level of expertise and ability to connect with her students is incredible!
Awesomeeee Woman of power and strength. Carmen was absolutely phenomenal during our Women’s Situational Awareness & Safety Training at SYWO Security Academy.
She delivered self-defense techniques in a way that was clear, practical, and empowering. Her confidence and passion made every woman in the room feel more capable and prepared.
We are truly grateful for her impact and look forward to working with her again. Thank you, Carmen & Momba, for helping us empower and protect our community! It’s an honor to know you.
Thessa H.
Marine, Founder, SYWO Security Academy
Carmen led a self-defense class at my all-women’s gym, Empower, and it was so informative and equipping! Our members were very grateful to have gained such valuable information.
Questions shelters and advocates ask first.
Is this appropriate for people who have experienced violence or trauma?
Yes, and it is designed with that assumption. The methodology is trauma-aware: no surprise scenario work, no forced participation, no graphic material used for shock, and clear opt-outs at every physical stage.
Is this therapy?
No. Momba delivers training and education. It is not therapy, counselling or clinical treatment, and it is designed to sit alongside the professional support your organization already provides — never to replace it.
Can our own staff keep delivering it?
Yes. Your own advocates and counsellors learn to deliver and sustain the material, so it does not leave when the visiting instructor does, with scheduled review, refreshers as staff turn over, and a line to Carmen when a session raises something your team wants to talk through.
Where has this work been delivered?
Inside a domestic violence support environment, a church-affiliated shelter, the Department of Veterans Affairs Police Services and youth programs through Girls For A Change — most of it confidential, which is why it is described in general terms.
Do you need a gym, or special equipment?
No. Sessions run in conference rooms, break rooms, training rooms, chapel halls and classrooms. Participants take part in ordinary clothes. All equipment is brought in.
Which areas do you serve?
Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, Midlothian, Glen Allen, Short Pump and Mechanicsville, with regular travel to Williamsburg, Petersburg, Charlottesville and Northern Virginia, and anywhere in the US and internationally.
Talk through a program for your people.
Fifteen minutes, no pressure, and a straight answer about fit.