We were lucky to catch up with Maria Trusa recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

As an author, philanthropist, public speaker and CEO of Formé Medical Center, my main focus has been to impact the underserved community with all of my projects. Because of my own tragic story of sexual abuse at the age of nine, I founded the non-profit organization Yo Digo No Más (I Say No More) which focuses on raising awareness through education and resources to prevent sexual abuse in children in addition releasing my book, Yo Digo No Mas (I Say No More) where I share my story and provide tools for support and healing; desperately needed in the underserved community.

Sexual abuse has become a worldwide problem that affects millions of children, women and men leading to serious consequences that can severely affect their physical and emotional health which I call “the silent pandemic.”

Every 9 minutes a child is sexually abused in the United States, and it is estimated that only 30% of the cases are reported. 93% of the time the abuse happens at home.

Maria , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is María Trusa. I was born in the Dominican Republic, where I spent my first years of life with a precarious lifestyle. As I mentioned previously, at the age of 9, I suffered a strong assault that almost cost me my life and years later, it became my drive to achieve success.

I moved to the United States when I turned fifteen and after a long period of adaptation, I learned the language and passed my school years to later join the Scarsdale Medical Group, a place to which I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and improve and in which I achieved remarkable professional growth. At Scarsdale Medical Group, I was able to reach the position of executive director and transformed this medical center into a multi-million-dollar institution with more than 200 employees.

I have always been proud of my Latin roots and in the quest to share a little of my personal history with those less favored, in 2015, I made the decision to join Gina Cappelli in the transformation of Formé, a medical center that provides quality health services and dignified treatment for the vulnerable Hispanic community, especially those undocumented or with indefinite immigration status who are unable to have social security.

I am a faithful believer that we must overcome ourselves to leave a legacy that impacts future generations. For this reason, in 2019, at the age of 55, I ran the New York Marathon, to show that there are no limits to achieving your goals.

After telling my story for the first time in the documentary, “Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit”, I understood that there are millions of people around the world with stories of triumph who must tell their story, so that together we can be the voices that ends the silent pandemic that is the sexual abuse of our children.

For this reason, in 2020, I decided to write my first book #YoDigoNoMas. This later turned into a movement that aims to be the main support platform in the healing process of child sexual abuse survivors.

My journey with the movement has led me to participate in countless interviews, talks and events, in which with my story, and that of hundreds of people who have trusted me, I give a message of encouragement to those who still do not dare to take the first step on the road to healing. In the year 2021 and with the support of different organizations, I brought the movement to the screens with the YouTube Talk Show “#YoDigoNoMas”, with episodes full of emotions and a lot of truth.

This year, we hosted the Second Annual Walk Against Sexual Abuse of our Children in Yonkers, NY along with the Mayor’s Office and the Yonkers Public Schools District. We are currently working on a curriculum and other tools to help educate our children, parents and caregivers and educators to prevent sexual abuse in children.

As part of continuing to break limits, I ran the NYC marathon and last year, I participated in the Ironman in Augusta, GA where I challenged myself to learn how to swim. I am the proud mom of three wonderful children and grandmother of three precious grandchildren.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My resilience story goes back to when I was a 9-year-old child in the Dominican Republic.

One night, my father came to take my little four-year-old brother to give him to his friend who was a witchcraft man, known as a ” brujo ” in the Dominican Republic. I decided to stop my father from taking my little brother, so he took me instead. Little did I know that it would be the worst night of my life.

My father left me at that man’s house where the man then took me to a room where he performed some witchcraft and forced me to drink a bottle of whiskey. After that, he took me to a motel near his house where he brutally raped me taking my innocence. In that instance, the trajectory of my life changed forever.

He destroyed my body to the point that I needed emergency surgery. I was in tremendous pain since my right ovary got twisted around my fallopian tubes. All I wanted to do was die. If I knew how to commit suicide, I would have done it.

However, even though I didn’t recognize it back then, my mother gave me the strength to go on. In one instance, while I was on the floor crying, she kicked me. I resented her at the time for that kick and for not hugging me the way that I needed but my mother did what she thought was best for me as she was also dealing with her own pain and didn’t know how to deal with that situation. With time, I am grateful to have restored my relationship with my mother.

This tragedy was very detrimental to me and the way I handled the relationships. For many years, I had a very toxic relationship with not only myself, but also the people around me. However, this ended up being the story that not only transformed my life but also continues to transform the lives of those around me. This chapter of my life is where I found the resilience to resolve and face challenges in a way that I have learned to “crush the limits” in my life.

Through the years, as I started my healing journey, I learned how to become a very strong person who did not fear much because of what I had been through.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that I had to learn is that “Breaking the Silence” is essential to stop the war with ourselves and our soul, especially when it comes to sexual abuse on children

This “silent pandemic” as I call it , is fed by the silence of not speaking out . As survivors, we remain silent. One of the many reasons is because too often it happens at home, by somebody you know, or by a family member. I reiterate that 70% of survivors stay in silence. Many of them taking it to their graves.

This made me realize the urgency of speaking up in order to take away the power of the abusers. We need to break the silence and unite to give voice to the voiceless.

To help break the silence, I broke my own silence by writing a book called, “Yo Digo No Mas” which translates to “I Say No More” where I told my story. The response from others was overwhelming. Many people came to me and opened their hearts in a very raw way.

This is the reason the book and movement are so critical to create the urgency needed to break the chains of sexual abuse of our children.

Contact Info:

• Website: mariatrusa.org
• Instagram: maria_trusa
• Facebook: Maria Trusa
• Linkedin: Maria M. Trusa
• Youtube: @mariatrusa9746 @yodigonomas
• Other: yodigonomas.com
• IG: yodigonomas
• FB: yodigonomas
• YouTube: @Yodigonomas

Image Credits
Pablo Monsalve