The A.W.E Approach
Advocacy • Wholeness • Elevation
The A.W.E. Approach is the foundation of the LaShauna Matthews Center's work. It is how we protect patients and families, transform health care systems, and restore trust between communities and institutions.
A.W.E. stands for Advocacy, Wholeness, and Elevation—three interconnected pillars that guide everything we do.
Standing with families. Changing systems.
At the LaShauna Matthews Center, Advocacy means standing with, speaking for, and acting on behalf of individuals and families impacted by medical racism, discrimination, negligence, and systemic failure—while working to change the systems that allowed the harm to occur.
Advocacy is both individual and systemic. It protects people in moments of crisis and drives reforms that prevent future harm.
Through Advocacy, we:
Advocacy turns harm into action and silence into protection.
Standing with families. Changing systems.
At the LaShauna Matthews Center, Advocacy means standing with, speaking for, and acting on behalf of individuals and families impacted by medical racism, discrimination, negligence, and systemic failure—while working to change the systems that allowed the harm to occur.
Advocacy is both individual and systemic. It protects people in moments of crisis and drives reforms that prevent future harm.
Through Advocacy, we:
Advocacy turns harm into action and silence into protection.
Restoring dignity, agency, and trust.
Wholeness recognizes that medical harm affects the whole person and the whole community—not just the body. Healing requires knowledge, justice, and accountability.
Through Wholeness, we:
Wholeness restores power, dignity, and safety where harm once existed.
Restoring dignity, agency, and trust.
Wholeness recognizes that medical harm affects the whole person and the whole community—not just the body. Healing requires knowledge, justice, and accountability.
Through Wholeness, we:
Wholeness restores power, dignity, and safety where harm once existed.
Raising people, relationships, and standards.
Elevation moves the work beyond response toward lasting change. It bridges communities and health care systems while honoring those who actively participate in accountability and reform.
At the LaShauna Matthews Center, Elevation ensures the work does not end with harm exposed or policies changed. It lifts everyone involved—patients, families, providers, and leaders—toward a future defined by dignity, partnership, and shared responsibility.
Through Elevation, we:
Restored trust is the elevation of our communities.
Raising people, relationships, and standards.
Elevation moves the work beyond response toward lasting change. It bridges communities and health care systems while honoring those who actively participate in accountability and reform.
At the LaShauna Matthews Center, Elevation ensures the work does not end with harm exposed or policies changed. It lifts everyone involved—patients, families, providers, and leaders—toward a future defined by dignity, partnership, and shared responsibility.
Through Elevation, we:
Restored trust is the elevation of our communities.
Together, Advocacy, Wholeness, and Elevation form a continuous cycle:
The A.W.E. Approach ensures that LaShauna Matthews’ legacy leads not only to accountability—but to a safer, more just, and more humane health care system for all.