Issue August 28, 2014 - September 3, 2014

briefs BHPD mistakenly detains TV

producer as bank robbery suspect Page 4

profiles Kahen launches

stylemechelsea.com Page 10

briefs Fuhrer nominates BHUSD

principals for ALS ice bucket challenge Page 8

Face ForwardDavid and Deborah Alessi discuss their

organization’s upcoming Venetian Masquerade

August 28-September 3, 2014 Page 9

coverstory

FACE FORWARD

By Nancy Yeang

Beverly Hills residents David and Deborah

Alessi are the founders of Face Forward.

Purchase tickets at http://faceforward.tick-

etleap.com for the Venetian Masquerade

on September 13. It will be located at the

Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown

Los Angeles and start at 6:30 p.m.

Tell us about Face Forward.

Deborah:

faces for mostly women and children who

have been victims of domestic violence.

We’re open to men too but we’ve never

actually had a male patient. Our patients

are local and worldwide.

David:

faces but we also rebuild their lives too.

was started was because I was doing some

reconstructive work for some patients

wouldn’t really be cured or have their

not only a tool to rebuilt their faces, but

also to get them involved with vocational

rehab and psychological rehab and so

these patients can move forward and heal.

is that instead of just rebuilding their faces

these women we’ve worked with so far

have gone to do something great with their

violence, they have their own company, or

have gone back to school.

Deborah: I think a lot of people don’t

understand the need for what we do.

-

have been affected by domestic violence.

It may not be as severe as the cases we

deal with. We’ve dealt with women who

have been set on fire or are acid victims.

socket was punched in. She was very frail

and very timid and I said to my trainer,

start a conversation with her and I could

tell that she was uncomfortable. I knew it

was domestic violence.

It’s so common. It happens with celeb-

rities who probably don’t want to talk

women, they may not be disfigured, but

-

dren with tells you every day that you’re

worthless, and he beats you if you don’t

do something that he thinks you should be

our patients.

have a bad hair day and your makeup

doesn’t feel right, then you don’t feel

women go forward

every single day and

become achievers in

life when their faces

are disfigured or

they have one eye?

It’s very severe.

about it, the more

women will come

forward and ask for

what the message is,

and that’s why it’s

important to have

celebrities involved

because when they

speak people listen.

What were your

reasons for starting

Face Forward

Deborah?

Deborah

boyfriend was abu-

I was very lucky to get out of a bad situ-

ation. I never really talked much about it

because I felt ashamed and I think a lot of

women feel that way. I always wondered

why I put myself in that situation and I

blamed myself like most of the women do.

had a feeling to make a difference and

it came together. We decided we should

start something.

You mentioned you help patients

locally and worldwide. How do you

reach out to these patients and find

them?

Deborah: Individuals who are involved

in the community, such as workers in

domestic violence shelters or spokeswom-

en for domestic violence, connect with us.

We have a woman coming in October

from Africa and she found us. I don’t

know how she found us, but she found us.

David

of domestic violence are survivors of it.

get back at them so they want to hit them

relations, people will hear about it.

one minute. We were talking about the

and e-mails from around the country from

women hiding in these little dark corners

hear about it and press is one of the ways

we do that.

You mentioned that reconstructive

surgery as well as psychological and

emotional recovery is part of the

program as well. How do you provide

these services to the individuals who

reach out to you?

Deborah -

gery pro bono and

we raise the money.

between $5,000 to

because we raise

the money for after

care, the anesthesi-

ologist, airfare, and

we try to take care

of them full time

while they’re here.

with their families

so they’re on their

own.

We’ll provide the

therapy. We have a

few different part-

ners we work with

and it depends on

each case. Some

are local, some

can Skype with the

who is coming from

Africa will be in

therapy during the time she is here and in

between her treatment.

Tell us about your careers.

Deborah: I’m from Scotland. I went to

managed their fleet of aircraft and then

from that I did a similar job here in the

David

went to medical school and did my resi-

head and neck surgery as well as facial

reconstructive surgery. I have practiced in

How did you find yourselves in

California?

Deborah: I like warm weather.

David

girl from Scotland and if she’s around any

kind of cold weather she’s so unhappy

with it and I have no idea how she even

grew up in Scotland.

Deborah: It does not appeal to me any-

more.

David: When I was a resident in medical

school I was figuring out what I wanted

Virginia’s neurosurgery program and at

head and neck and facial reconstruction

program. I thought to myself I like both of

them quite a bit but I think I’d like to see

palm trees instead of insidious trees, and so

that’s what brought me out here.

What are other events that Face

Forward puts on throughout the year?

Deborah: We usually do local events,

but the big event once a year is our annual

takes six months to put together.

Tell us more about the gala.

Deborah

many surprises from the moment you

the whole event you’ll feel like you’re in

-

super excited to see her myself.

We will have an amazing live auction.

We have over $250,000 in auction items

donated that myself and other board mem-

bers have brought in. We’ve found local

sponsors and we have alcohol. We’re

trying to have as much as we can donated

so that all the money we raise go towards

our cause.

We have a fundraising goal of $500,000.

and every year we’ve gone up. I’d like to

aim high and achieve high, so I’ll set my

goals high for this year. If there’s anyone

who would like to buy a ticket for a table

let me know.

David

we had to hire a second band because

people were drinking and dancing until

two in the morning. It’s just the most fun

gala you can ever go to.

Deborah

topic to be dark at the gala. I want to

celebrate life, and that’s why we have the

hiding behind a mask and you come out

because we want to celebrate life after

domestic violence.

“These women, they may

not be disfigured, but

they could be living in

Beverly Hills or Santa

Monica and living

behind a closed door.

The person you love

and have children with

tells you every day that

you’re worthless, and he

beats you if you don’t do

something that he thinks

you should be doing”

--Face Forward founder

Deborah Alessi