Cindy Spray, author of “Crying Without Tears,” speaks January 15, 2022, about child abuse at the Better Together parents luncheon in Bradenton.
“I am a survivor of child abuse,” Spray writes. “At an early age I had no choices in my future. But GOD chose me to be the protector of my brothers and sisters. I made a critical decision that affected my entire family. I chose to protect my youngest family members from a life I was already living. I went from being the most hated member in the family to becoming the most respected. Through it all, God held my hand and my heart. He leads my life. My faith in Him took me from the life I had to the life I have now.”
Better Together organizes a luncheon at various locations each month to bring parents together for community, to support each other and to hear from experts while their children play supervised in another room. Admission is free and includes lunch. (Scroll down for photos from this month’s luncheon in Bradenton.)
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray, shown here. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse. The Blessing Bags Project donated bears for the children.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse. Here, Jessica Braemer, left, and Naresa Rembert, right, pose with Cindy Spray, author of "Crying Without Tears." The Blessing Bags Project donated bears for the children.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse. The Blessing Bags Project donated bears for the children.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse.
First Baptist Bradenton hosted and sponsored our Better Luncheons event January 15 with guest speaker Cindy Spray. While volunteers watched the children, parents listened and engaged with Spray, the author of “Crying Without Tears,” an account of her own experience and a guide for others to learn how to recognize the signs of abuse. The Blessing Bags Project donated bears for the children.
Thank you for investing in the mission of Better Together!
Menu
Better Together Team Cammara Overton Collier County Family Care Coordniator
Cammara worked in the international nonprofit sector and served as a missionary overseas for 10 years before joining Better Together as the Collier County Family Care Coordinator. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from Florida Gulf Coast University. She has a heart for building relationships and serving women, children and their families and sharing the hope and love of Jesus Christ with everyone she meets. Cammara is passionate about coming alongside those seeking life change and helping them achieve all that they desire to do for themselves and their families. Cammara is very excited to be a part of the Better Together family by providing recourses and extending love and compassion to families in crisis.
Cammara and her husband, Dan, enjoy spending time playing volleyball and hanging out with friends and their Italian pup, Harley. They both have a passion for serving the Lord and being the hands and feet of Jesus in their community.
Better Together Team Jennifer Moffitt Tampa Bay Region Home Study Specialist
Originally from Massachusetts, Jenn moved to Florida in 1993 to be closer to her parents, who had left the snow behind the year before. In 1996, she graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in social work.
Jenn started her career working in private adoptions as a birth parent worker. After two years she was drawn to child welfare. For the next 19 years, she worked as a child protection investigator for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. In 2019 she began working for the Office of the State Attorney, 6th Judicial Circuit, as a child abuse specialist. She assisted prosecutors with interviewing child victims of abuse and neglect and served as a liaison with the Department of Children and Families and their local community providers.
Jenn and her husband, Shawn, were married on Christmas Day in 1999, and they have two boys, ages 12 and 20. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, shopping, taking day trips, visiting the beach, and vacationing in the mountains of North Carolina.
Better Together Team Katie Malloy Northeast Region Home Study Specialist
Katie was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, and attended the University of Mississippi, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Katie has been working with children and families in the foster care system in Duval County since 2015. Her passion is advocating for children in care and helping build strong and healthy families. During Katie’s childhood, her church community was a great support system for her and her family. She’s a firm believer that the more people who love a child, the better.
Better Together Team Ruth Davidson Southwest Florida Church Engagement Director
Ruth has a passion for serving others. She believes strongly in giving back to the community and paying it forward. She loves to share her personal story of how, with God’s help, she was able to overcome past hurdles. Growing up in rural Kentucky in a large family that faced many struggles, she knows firsthand how God’s love can heal and restore broken families. She has the gift of hospitality and enjoys communicating with others with the hope that she is never meeting strangers, only making friends.
Ruth comes to Better Together with over eight years of ministry experience. After moving to Fort Myers from Fort Lauderdale in 2016, she served as an outreach coordinator for a nonprofit faith-based recovery program for more than five years. She was also an administrative assistant to her directors, scheduling events and successfully developing and establishing relationships with several businesses and churches in Southwest Florida. She has a relaxed way of making others feel comfortable, possessing a servant’s heart and loves outreach and missions.
Ruth currently resides in Naples and enjoys traveling, dining out, cooking, entertaining and serving in her community. She has two grown children, Martin and Annie, and one grandson, Drew, who loves to visit with his Nana.
Better Together Team Amanda Colafrancesco Sarasota/Manatee Home Study Specialist
Amanda was born and raised in Rhode Island and moved to Florida in 2016. She earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees in administration of justice from Salve Regina University. Upon graduation, she began a career in child welfare, specifically toward a goal of preventing children from entering the foster care system. Amanda brings diverse experiences in serving children and families in their home environments to her work with Better Together as a home study specialist. She is also a certified child welfare protective investigator through the Florida Certification Board and has over six years of child welfare experience. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys visiting with family and friends.
Better Together Team Yohana Resto Southwest Florida Executive Director
Yohana brings to Better Together 15 years of experience working in child welfare. She has served in various roles, including case manager, clinical services specialist, relative search specialist, foster family recruiter, and most recently a role conducting comprehensive assessments for children in foster care or relative care. Yohana has a heart and passion for serving children and families, and she brings to the organization a wide breadth of knowledge and experience. A graduate of Southeastern University and Nova Southeastern University with a bachelor’s in psychology and Master of Science in counseling, Yohana has a caring and compassionate heart to support families in need.
Yohana loves spending time with her husband, Miguel, and their four children—Isabela, Natalia, Jaxon and Jayden. You can frequently find them at a soccer game, as their girls enjoy playing competitive travel soccer. Yohana credits her relationship with God and personal salvation as the motivating force behind her desire to continue to serve her community.
Better Together Team Dawson Jordan Creative Director
Dawson is an exciting addition to the Better Together Team. Since graduating college in 2015 from Florida Gulf Coast University with his bachelor’s degree in Business Management he has managed to create a successful career for himself as a self-employed freelance videographer/photographer. He has recently relocated back to his hometown in SWFL and is excited to join the team as the Creative Director to help us tell the Better Together story. Dawson is passionate about telling stories through a creative lens, especially when it comes to seeing families stay together and for individuals to thrive and become the best version of themselves. When Dawson is not in the office he likes to hang out with his friends, workout, and watch sports.
Better Together Team
Better Together Team
Better Together Team
Better Together Team
Better Together Team
Better Together Team
Better Together Team