"Domestic Violence is the biggest driver of women into poverty and it also has long term impacts on a woman's emotional mental health and wellbeing," she says

Now, her charity creates education and pathways to employment to help women achieve life goals. The charity also provides furniture and appliances to women leaving domestic violence situations.

It's not what Histon imagined she would be doing when she was growing up. As a young adult, she wasn't aware or informed on social justice or women's rights. She was never socially aware in school. She enjoyed a career in marketing and photography until 2014 when a work trip to Nepal fundamentally shifted the way she saw the world. While working on a documentary on sex trafficking, she learned the horrible ways in which women and girls were treated.

She returned to Newcastle and wanted to make a difference for the women living here. Got Your Back Sista is now an expanding charity and not-for-profit, helping women every day. While providing women a pathway from refuge accommodation to sustainable independent housing, living and employment, it also offers free programs, workshops and classes to empower women at their Tighes Hill Headquarters.

"For the workshops and courses at HQ, we promote them publicly and women can attend without being referred by a DV service," Histon says. "We don't ask the background of women who attend. Though most have experienced DV and that's why they come to GYBS, there are some who have experienced other traumas or maybe have their own reasons for attending. We respect their privacy if they don't wish to divulge their personal experience.

"In the case of our self-defense classes, we often have women and teenage girls who just want to learn how to protect themselves."

With Begin Again - donating furniture, household items and store vouchers to women who have fled DV - the charity requires referral and documentation from another service.

It didn't start out that big.

Once she returned from Nepal, Histon dipped her toes in activism by holding fundraising events and blogging about women's issues under the name Sista Code. She did two trips back to Nepal to work with Habitat for Humanity. Two years later, someone suggested she start a charity.

"I asked, 'if I did start a charity, what would it look like? What gaps are to be filled?' If you're going to start a charity you don't want to replicate what other charities are doing," she says.

She learnt from caseworkers that when a woman goes into housing and accommodation, she often leaves with only the clothes on her back - they need furniture, household items and whitegoods.

At the end of 2015 Got Ya Back Sista was launched. A night of fundraising and a silent auction raised $15,000 and by 2016 they were on their way.

At the end of 2017, the charity moved into its own headquarters at the landmark former School of Arts building on Elizabeth Street in the inner city suburb of Tighes Hill.

"Anne Long of the Greater Foundation, I went in and had a coffee with her. I asked 'should we buy it? It's such a big step.' She said 'I think you should do it. You can commit to it, if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out.'"

Histon didn't sleep for six weeks. Her mind was racing with worries about furnishing it and paying rent.

"That was the scariest, biggest step," Histon says. "We all went in and saw the building in Tighes Hill. We went in, we went 'yes, we need to do it!'"

Her worries turned out to be unfounded. That's the beauty of Got Your Back Sista, she has so much support in the community.

"I met [philanthropist] Jan Bynon, her and her husband Frank have been such supporters of GYBS. I was talking to Jan, telling her about this building, and her cousin owns a Scandinavian import company, the next thing, she reaches out to me and is like 'what do you need?'" Histon says.

They needed a reception area, workshop tables, desks, and lounges. Three weeks later a truck rolled up with new furniture. From that she took away a big lesson: you need people to support you when you're facing challenges.

Now they see 70 to 100 women visit the Tighes Hill facility each week. Along with self-defense classes, they offer workshops on handling stress and anxiety, on healthy relationships, and cooking classes teaching women to cook on a budget. They partner with TAFE to run a computer and admin course, offer women a retail skills course, and more.

"We're still a small organisation, but now it's about having an amazing team," Histon says. Histon runs GYBS full-time with two part-time staff, two casuals and contractors.

They also have 65 volunteers for the op shop on Maitland Road, Islington.

"We do our community campaigns, educating people around what domestic violence is and encouraging people so they know that they're not alone. I like to think we're having impact. Each year we get more and more women reach out, wanting advice, wanting support," Histon says.

On October 24 they raised over $70,000 on the "I Run For Her" campaign to show support for people affected by domestic abuse, past or present. Sista's supporters include major organisations, ranging from City of Newcastle to Newcastle Knights and Newcastle Coal.

"Every organisation has probably the niche clientele, but we deliberately try to make our campaigns mainstream. We want to reach the majority. We're not trying to preach to the converted. I've been to some domestic violence rallies and they're all case workers. You're already converted," Histon says. "We want to reach the masses and engage people who have never thought about speaking out about it or supporting a friend or sister."

She offers an insight into her success.

"I am never embarrassed to ask dumb questions. I quite often will ring up the phone and say I don't understand something. I want to know how to do something better. I don't want to look stupid; I probably do look stupid sometimes. Reach out and ask for help. Keep asking. Sometimes I'll call numerous people," she says.

She's a strong believer in networking and having the right people. "I've been really lucky, hey. I've had some really good people who have believed in me, believed in GYBS," Histon says.

She's keenly aware of why she's doing what she's doing and the many complexities that surround domestic violence.

"It occurs because of a whole range of reasons including gender roles," Histon says." Some people, in this case, men, see women as their property and that they're in control of that." She believes the Australian government needs a zero tolerance policy on domestic violence.

Her knowledge and passion combined with her practicality are a winning combination. Her willingness to learn and to work with a variety of players can serve as a lesson to anyone else trying make a difference.

Histon has a massive web of cheerleaders and supporters, and it's moving to see the results. Histon has the sisters' back, and the community has hers.