Stamford JCC Paves Prevention Path!

I'm so happy to announce that the Stamford, Connecticut JCC (Jewish Community Center) is the first JCC in the U.S. to attain the Partner In Prevention designation from Darkness To Light! It is also the first, and only, organization in Connecticut to have attained the designation! Partner In Prevention status is earned by an organization when at least 90% of its staff have been trained in D2L's Stewards of Children child sexual abuse prevention training for adults. Almost 100% of Stamford's staff have been trained! Additionally, the JCC has been delivering the award-winning Stewards prevention training to other organizations in the Stamford area since May 2012. To date, almost 300 adults have been trained under the JCC's tutelage.
Why am I proud? Because I am the Darkness To Light instructor who had the privilege of training the trainers, the JCC's facilitators who are now out there educating their community. The JCC's effort, under the direction of CEO, Eric Koehler, and Associate Executive Director, Nancy Schiffman, has been committed and impassioned from Day 1, an outgrowth of their belief that community adults have a responsibility to keep kids as safe as possible. It's been an honor to get to know them and to have been, even in a small way, a part of their great team.
If you would like to learn more about earning Partner In Prevention status from Darkness to Light, click here.
If you are in or near Stamford, CT and would like more info about the JCC's trainings, contact Nancy Schiffman at nschiffman@stamfordjcc.org or 203-322-7900.
My hat is off to Eric, Nancy and their entire team for turning intention into action, creating this initiative and running with it. No doubt, there will be many, many children in their sphere living safer, happier, more whole lives because of their efforts.

Voices Sing

A Salute and A Prayer

Teachers can take a lot of guff in our society and, when that is deserved, be it from abusing a child or colluding to cover up abuse, they deserve not only the guff but a stiff criminal penalty. But truth is, in addition to teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, teachers and their administrators often are our children's first lines of defense at school, whether the danger be a sexual predator or a madman with enough rounds of ammunition to obliterate multiple classrooms. This is one of the reasons I and my associates work so hard with teachers and school administrators to get all staff trained in abuse prevention/response and encourage community parents to get trained themselves and insist on such training for their schools. 

My hat is off to the many teachers and other staff who have worked so hard with me in that endeavor, inviting me to train at their schools, beseeching their superiors to make such education mandatory, laboring to understand an aching child's symptoms in an effort to help, agonizing when they realize their charges have been suffering. My hat is off to, and my heart aches for, those children who have been victims when such measures and caring were not in place. In the wake of the tragedy in my beloved home state of CT, my hat is off to, and my heart aches for, especially, those teachers and staff who literally put themselves between the killer and the kids on Friday in Newtown, wanting nothing more than to keep those children safe. 

May we never forget and may their memories be forever for a blessing.

Oh, yes...

"The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand." 

        ~ Dr. Irene C. Kassorla

Angel Haze

Wow...this young singer tells it just like it is in her song "Cleanin' Out My Closet," which can be found on YouTube. It is raw, raw, raw and as real as it gets from a survivor; the title alone is  amazing. 
WARNING: if you believe that a brutally honest, blunt language recounting of someone's child sexual abuse experience will trigger you, do not watch the video.  If you do choose to watch, listen carefully to her words, her feelings, her vehement assertions.
Below is the link to the NYT article about her...have a look:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/talking-to-angel-haze/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7bZ08RNUyM 

Sentencing Day

"The crime is not only what you did to their bodies but to their psyches and their souls and the assault to the well-being of the larger community in which we all live." - Judge John Cleland.
 

And so many who knew did nothing...

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/09/14315772-jerry-sandusky-gets-30-to-60-years-for-child-sex-abuse 

A Letter to E.L. James From Darkness To Light Founder Anne Lee

As I've traveled this road combating child sexual abuse, few people have impacted the journey more than Anne Lee. A true inspiration, Anne was the visionary who, in 2001, founded Darkness To Light, the non-profit based in Charleston, SC, whose mission is to educate adults to "prevent, recognize and react responsibly" to child sexual abuse. 11 years after its creation, Darkness To Light continues to educate thousands of adults each year. Authorized facilitators around the globe lead the acclaimed 2.5 hour Stewards of Children, the abuse prevention training named the Crime Prevention Program of the Year in 2007 by the National Crime Prevention Council.
Though Anne is no longer at the helm of Darkness To Light, her impassioned work to end child sexual abuse continues. Her new consulting group, Greater Good Advisors, is about to launch. In April 0f 2011, she was named a "Hero Among Us" by People Magazine.
I am thrilled to host Anne here for a guest post, a letter to "Fifty Shades of Grey" author E. L. James. I warn you now - if you do not want the hows and whys of Christian Grey revealed to you, don't read this post. For all others, Anne's words speak for themselves. As someone with an abuse background, I wasn't sure when I went to read James' first book in the trilogy if it might be triggering. But I, like so many, enjoyed the story and the relationship portrayed and, particularly, the humanity of the characters, especially Christian. He is a complex man. Anne understands that, too, and as she has many times before, she sees a teaching opportunity. Have a look. 
Thanks, and kudos, Anne Lee, for all you've done to make this world a better place for children.

Dear Ms. James,

As the founder of Darkness to Light, www.D2L.org - the nation's only evidence-based primary prevention program educating adults about child sexual abuse, with over 5000 facilitators in 49 states and 15 countries - I want to applaud your huge success and telling the story of the "50 Shades" from the majorly important and seldom told point of view of Christian's pain and childhood trauma. Maybe one of the reasons so many resonate with "50" is that approximately 20% of all adults have sexual abuse in their history. Horrifically amazing, but true. 

My fervent hope is that as the movie is created and developed, the core issue of his abuse is not glossed over. As a consultant, I would be delighted  to work with your team.  We have an opportunity through this movie to bring the conversation of  physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect to the forefront of societal consciences. The demand for prevention and the creation of a national standard of care for our children might be made reality through efforts like yours. I know you get it. I can tell from your writing. In many ways you wrote my story - like so many others.  

May the light go before you and all that is good find its way to you.  For this huge work, I thank you. 

Anne

                                                               Anne Lee  

                                                                Principal

                                                Greater Good Advisors, LLC
                                                      672 Ellis Oaks Avenue

                                                       Charleston, SC 29412

                                                            843.437.8416                                        

                                                    alee@ggoodadvisors.com