I'm so excited for tomorrow night! The crowd of domestic violence/sexual assault survivors is growing as we can clearly see from events over the past week with Harvey Weinstein/Hollywood. I've never really made distinctions between domestic violence and sexual assault/abuse because both are interpersonal and involve a violation of your intimate surroundings/relationships. Both are violence against your soul and can take years (sometimes a lifetime and sometimes never) to recover from. Both are a manipulation of power and strip lifeforce from its victims.
So you can see the issues we face are very serious and the numbers are so so high, even here in Utah and even in Utah County. (we are higher than the national average)
I've been fortunate to be in the company of the most talented and capable humans/advocates offered by the state of Utah where these issues are concerned. If not for the following people and performers/speakers for tomorrow evening, I would not have made it through the past four years. I left Utah almost five years ago with my kids and planned to never never come back. God's provision of good people to help me and my family heal since returning to Utah has been a revelation to me about the undeniable capacity of Utah's residents to pick each other up from the rubble and create a thriving recovery community. The talent here is unbelievable and there is a constant supply of goodness that flows through our state---four of which are highlighted below!!
PLEASE JOIN US!! Let's turn the statistics around and be proud of our community!
Heidi Mendez Harrison is the creative director and founder for Act Risk No More. The group of actors perform the poetry and writings from Heidi's book, Behind These Walls. Behind These Walls is the truth about abuse that occurs and has been occurring for decades. Heidi fearlessly challenges the stereotyping of those trapped in abuse, addiction and mental illness by giving them a voice. The result is breathtaking for audiences who are able to experience the emotion that so often gets buried in our homes and relationships. Heidi is an adjunct professor at UVU and is a theater pro who performs in theater productions all over the state--her acting is incredible. I love Heidi and she is a hero in our community!
Kim Murphy is my advocate and friend. She was part of a life saving duo of women who kept me moving forward during my stay at the Center for Women and Children in Crisis in Provo (she was my social worker and housing coordinator). Kim's intellect and wit was like medicine in my mind, which felt like it had been ravaged and stripped down to nothing when we met. Kim's background and her willingness to be open with her own past and experiences filled me and revived me. She will speak on empathy and is honestly the embodiment of that, so don't miss it!
Jenna-bear. I love this girl. We also met at the Womens Center--she was a staff member who cut my hair once....and sang. Her voice got me back up on my feet, musically speaking. Jenna was gracious enough to sing with me every Sunday during my stay at the shelter. The more sang/played music, the better I started to feel and no joke--was out of the shelter environment within 6 weeks from connecting with her.
Jenna will sing, Sick Like That--a song I wrote about domestic violence during my therapy in Los Angeles. Jenna will also share some of her successes over the past year, to name a few--STARTING A YOGA STUDIO and STARTING A BARBER SHOP in PARK CITY!! Watch KSL's clip on her below!!
JENNA ON KSL!!
Angela Kelly is going to be leading our community talk back after the performance on Friday and I can't think of anyone better to do it! Angela and I met over a year and 1/2 ago when I quit one of her events because I was going through a quitting streak and I quit everything I could get my hands on. So I was really amazed when she reached out to me later on, wiling to talk and share some of her life with me. Angela's community activism is an absolute inspiration to me---she
Ambassador at Human Trafficking And Child Exploitation Prevention Act and
Event Chairman for awareness and fundraising events at Time to Rescue. Angela has invited me to be part of her recorded events highlighting sexual abuse/trafficking in Utah County this past year and continues to be active in recovery communities!! Thank you Angela!!
We love you Utah County:)) See you tomorrow night~~Rachelle
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