August's Newsletter Theme:
"Endings and Beginnings"
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NAASCA Supports Survivors Ending Their Abuse and Beginning Their Journey to Recovery!
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Meet Our NAASCA Volunteer of the Month!
Make a Difference for Others!
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a non profit 501(c)3
Because of you and our simple MISSION, more
kids are being protected, more adult survivors served!
NAASCA has a single purpose, to address issues related to childhood abuse and trauma including sexual assault, violent or physical abuse, emotional traumas and neglect .. and we do so from two specific perspectives
:
- educating the public, especially as related to getting society over the taboo of discussing childhood sexual abuse, presenting the facts that show child abuse to be a pandemic, worldwide problem that affects everyone
- offering hope for healing through numerous paths, providing many services to adult survivors of child abuse and information for anyone interested in the many issues involving prevention, intervention and recovery
Building a survivor / activist / professional community ... because
together we can do what we cannot do alone
.
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Welcome to the August 2019 NAASCA Newsletter
Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter mailing list!
Please encourage others to get in touch by suggesting they
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This month's newsletter theme is:
"Endings and Beginnings"
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Upcoming August Dates
Beginning of the harvest in the Northern Hemisphere
Ending of winter in the Southern Hemisphere
Beginning (first) Sunday: Friendship Day, Sisters Day, and International Forgiveness Day
11: Son and Daughter Day
12: Middle Child’s Day
13: Left Hander’s Day and Daughter’s Day
20: National Radio Day – think Blog Talk Radio Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) Shows
21: Senior Citizen’s Day
22: Be an Angel Day
26: Women’s Equality Day and National Dog Day – unfortunate combination, so treat the dog in your life well, but more importantly, treat the women in your life even better, with respect as equals
27: Global Forgiveness Day
Each week in August also has a theme attached to it, and a chance to remember certain uplifting behaviors:
·
Week 1
is National Simplify Your Life Week, a time to reflect on what is really important to you and eliminate the rest.
·
Week 2
is National Smile Week, a time to show the world how happy you are becoming, as you continue your journey to recovery.
·
Week 3
is Friendship Week, a time to remember you have friends in NAASCA.
·
Week 4
is Be Kind to Humankind Week, a time to share your story to help others struggling with beginning their journey to recovery, and to be of help to others while receiving help from others.
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The SCRIPT Conference !! - Monday, July 29th - in Los Angeles -
FREE
Please attend '
The Script Conference
'. All day long on Monday, July 29th. A series of assemblies, presentations and workshops. A wonderful annual event!
NAASCA is a sponsor:
Bill Murray
will speak at the assembly from 10 to noon!
More than 60% of the population has experienced at least one adverse childhood experience. Evidence suggests that abuse, neglect and other types of adverse experiences are significant risk factors for later physical and mental health problems including drug and/or alcohol abuse, criminal activity, suicide attempts, domestic violence, cancer and heart disease. The costs to society associated with child abuse and neglect exceed $124 billion per year.
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Dedicate your birthday to supporting NAASCA
by Bill Murray
Recently, and all of a sudden, it was that time again .. my BIRTHDAY !!! .. (March 26, 1953)
It seems like this happens every year! LOL
There are numerous ways to support our truly unique organization.
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Or, if you prefer, join our
LinkedIn
group!
We're building a survivor / activist community!
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NAASCA's SCAN Shows Now on Three Platforms!
All our "Stop Child Abuse Now" talk radio shows are now available as 'on-demand' podcasts on three different platforms!
by Bill Murray
It's amazing, but NAASCA and our 'sister effort' LACP (Los Angeles Community Policing) will soon have produced 2800 "Stop Child Abuse Now" and "Community Matters This Week" talk radio shows!
We do our shows on BlogTalkRadio six-nights-a-week, all but Saturdays evenings, and each is recorded as it's being aired. It doesn't take long for the library to add up.
Now there are three ways to access these podcasts:
1. Directly through our
NAASCA web site
's 'ARCHIVES' by simply clicking on the episode's name (a number)
2. By using
APPLE Podcasts
for iPhone-style mobile devices – thanks to Dwight Hurych, North Carolina, for setting this up as a NAASCA volunteer!
3. Through
GOOGLE Podcasts
for those who use Android phones – thanks to Charm Isom-Asenime for explaining how to hear our shows on the GOOGLE Podcast platform, too
NAASCA's 'ARCHIVES' are accessed through the NAASCA website's HOME page where it says 'current schedule'. Each year is listed there.
Please see full details, including how to download the Apple and Google Podcast apps, on the NAASCA website page:
I am so pleased that NAASCA has increased its outreach through these two additional venues!
Please help us SHARE about these new platforms by spreading the word to as many survivors and advocates you can.
We hope this enhances our ability to execute our mission: educating the public about childhood abuse, and offering hope and healing to survivors.
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“Endings and Beginnings”
The newsletter theme of “Endings and Beginnings” relates to August being the end of summer and the beginning of fall in the northern hemisphere, and the end of winter and the beginning of spring in the southern hemisphere. The eternal rhythm of the Earth on its journey around the Sun. The Sun provides warmth, light, and sustains life throughout the Earth.
“Endings and Beginnings” also has special meaning to adult survivors of child abuse: the ending of the trauma and the beginning of healing on the survivor’s journey toward recovery and wholeness. This journey, like the Earth’s, is cyclical, with periods of growth followed by periods of falling back into reliving the past and being bound by it. Just as we rely on the Sun rising each morning to provide the warmth, light, and life we need, we survivors rely on the HOPE that we find help along our journey; help that provides warmth, lights the way, and gives life, direction, and meaning to our journey.
For the adult survivor, each new day provides an opportunity for a new beginning, a new learning, a new light upon our path. Those opportunities present themselves when we “end” a toxic belief instilled upon us during our childhood trauma, release the past as still part of who we are now but no longer limiting us from who we are becoming, and envision a future – a series of new beginnings – so much better than our past.
Wishing you bright progress on your journey toward wholeness and contentment with yourself as the good, worthy, loving person you were born to be. Your NAASCA Family is here to support you as you release your chains to the past, ending their hold on you, and continue your journey unburdened, beginning each day anew with hope and healing. Reach out to any of us, we are here for you. Never give up HOPE.
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Trish McKnight -
Volunteer of the Month for August
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NAASCA:
Hi, Trish! Let’s start off with how you were introduced to NAASCA.
Trish:
Independently, Bill Murray and I used the same Survivor-to-Thriver Trauma Recovery Program; it was the foundation which both of us grew from, and Bill later incorporated into the development of excellent programs through NAASCA.
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Originally, about ten years ago, ASCA (
http://ascasupport.org
) reached out to the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute to create the Survivor-to-Thriver program; the creator of that program is now the Treasurer and a founding Board of Directors key educator of our Butterfly Dreams Alliance organization. Bill and I actually first ‘met’ via my years in Podcast radio, having interviewed him and immediately admiring all his great work.
NAASCA:
Tell us about your volunteer outreach work with NAASCA.
TM:
I am quite proudly the Midwest Regional Director for NAASCA. I announce my work with NAASCA at presentations to legislative members and law enforcement; when I work with survivors of childhood trauma, helping them learn parenting and wellness skills; my work in hospitals; and as a Certified Mental Health First Aid Responder. It’s my goal to bring people into teamwork with NAASCA from Southern Illinois, Missouri, and more of the Midwest by sharing the message of the NAASCA family, reaching people, and recommending the NAASCA services through our Survivors World support group.
NAASCA:
What would you like to say about your book,
My Justice?
TM:
This is an emotional and violent read; one to take at your own pace and be aware of your own triggers. It describes my survival, battle, and lasting trauma from child trafficking, child sexual abuse, assault, neglect, enslavement, being taught to answer to the ring of a little brass bell, which my distorted tolerance led to 20 years of permanently injuring and almost deadly domestic violence. The book also gives hope for light at the end of the tunnel. The journey is a difficult path, but reclaiming our lives by speaking our truth is still powerful for me and encourages all victims of family/relationship harm to live strong and always believe that anything is possible.
NAASCA:
We’d like to hear about your current projects.
TM:
I am the Founding Director of Butterfly Dreams Alliance, NFP (website:
https://butterflydreamsalliance.org
), which focuses on family wellness, child abuse, human trafficking; prevention, awareness, and education. I provide training to area law enforcement, healthcare workers, schools, speaking at various universities, State conferences, and family counseling centers. I am a member of the Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force, Victim Services Sub-committee for best practices, testified for Illinois Governor’s Human Trafficking Task Force, and pushed through three years of political process to update Illinois Statute of Limitations allowing victims a minimum of 25 years to seek justice.
Our newest project is the Community Teen Partners program; helping teens in rural areas be safe at home, in their social relationships, and online. We are developing a teen peer group to help prevent suicide, bullying, substance use, and build resilience and positive coping strategies through difficult environments. There are limited resources and activities in a small community. The program helps teens provide their own resources to seek out help for their families, providing early intervention to reduce child abuse and family harm.
We recently, through the grace of United First Methodist Church, to begin holding our weekly Survivor’s World Support Group meetings. This will use the Survivor-to-Thriver program, along with some skill sets I found helpful, as well as references to the NAASCA resources available online. The Support Group helps survivors understand trauma disorders and behaviors, and how their parenting and other relationship challenges, even educational or employment difficulties, substance use, or mental illness often stem from their childhood trauma. Survivors can become healthier and find resources they need to give them a safe foundation on which to build a thriving future.
The most important thing in the world to me is making sure resources and services are available for free to everyone, and that we encourage community involvement to assist all those in need to feel safe, supported, and create their own positive family circle.
NAASCA:
How can people contact you?
In closing, there are hundreds of survivors who have become strong advocate voices today, and I am absolutely grateful to have walked this past decade with them at my side. We have all learned from each other and in our NAASCA teamwork we can continue to change the future for all victims today. I’d also like to thank the outstanding Board of Directors of Butterfly Dreams Alliance, NFP for helping us reach so many new changes throughout South-Central Illinois.
NAASCA:
Thank you, Trish!
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NAASCA's Grateful to All Our Members & Volunteers !
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We Need YOU!
We Need Each Other!
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Fighting For Kids,
Serving Adult Survivors
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Did you know that NAASCA is
entirely staffed by non-paid volunteers
including the Board of Directors?
All the services, programs, tools, resources, and social media efforts that we offer entirely
FREE
to anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world are staffed by volunteers from our NAASCA family!
It literally would not be possible without
YOU
.
There are many ways you can volunteer with NAASCA. If you have a little time or a lot, your help is greatly appreciated and needed. Check out our list of available positions here:
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This was created for us by Terri Lanahan, Butte, Montana: NAASCA Secretary and Coordinator of Volunteers, author of
"
Hear My Voice
"
Here's a tool anyone can download and use as a help whenever making a presentation on child abuse and trauma. It's a set of some two dozen PowerPoint slides that one can show on a laptop, send in an email, or can project on a screen for a larger group. Activist members of the NAASCA family might want to use it to explain any number of aspects of child abuse and trauma.
Terri's FINAL PowerPoint presentation is located on NAASCA web site's '
Promotional Tools
' page and in our social media groups.
"
Show off NAASCA -- our mission, services and tools !
R
EMEMBER .. On the NAASCA web page you'll find links to
how to get
even
more great help
when making presentations or during fundraising:
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Have You Listened to Our Talk Radio Show Lately ?
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Sunday through Friday evenings we broadcast an internet-based live streaming talk show. This is one of the best
FREE
SERVICES we offer to our NAASCA members!
All shows start at
8pm EST
so that's
7pm CEN
,
6pm MTN
&
5pm PAC
.
We really want to hear from you!
Anyone can participate or just listen to the show by calling:
(646) 595-2118
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Are You a Survivor of Child Abuse Looking for Support?
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In need of support in your local community?
NAASCA provides listings for your local area in our
Recovery Groups and Services
page.
We have gathered ALL the English speaking recovery groups and services we can find,
not only in
North America but from around the world. This list can connect you with numerous agencies, therapy, support groups and other resources in your local area.
Looking for support after hours or from home?
Can't find a group you can get to easily or want to connect when it is after business hours? Needing a way to talk about your story but want to stay anonymous? We also provide a link to another separate listing for
Online Groups and Services
, for Internet-based recovery groups.
As you can imagine, keeping this listing current and updated is a huge task. You can help other survivors find the support they need.
Submit updates for the
Recovery Groups List
to Carolin O'Hara:
Submit any updates for the
Online Resource List
to Valerie:
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You are not alone, and never have to be, a day at a time!
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All members of NAASCA are part of our 'NAASCA family', and that's not just something we say. We care about each other and that includes YOU.
We want you to feel comfortable reaching out to any of our volunteers, with any of your questions about what NAASCA offers, or for help navigating the website.
Even if you simply want someone to talk to when you are dealing with a difficult moment in your recovery as a survivor... we are here for you.
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Some are listed as night owls, some as available 24/7, others are part of our International community, still others are young or helping some specific types of survivors. Try it!
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A Note from Our Founder and CEO:
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Healing from child abuse and trauma can be a very lonely journey .. but you'll never be alone again, a day at a time, if you don't want to be !!
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NAASCA belongs to no other group and receives no outside funding. We're self-supporting through our own members' voluntary contributions.
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Please consider a one time
or recurring donation
.
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Thanking you for all you do in the fight against child abuse and trauma and welcoming you to engage with your NAASCA family, I remain, as always,
Yours in service,
Bill Murray
, Founder and CEO
National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse.
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