ANNOUNCING OUR $90K IN 90 DAYS FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN!

As we have mentioned in previous newsletters, this past September marked the 20 year anniversary of the Weekends of Recovery program! To date, more than 1700 male survivors have joined us, shared their stories, and discovered new tools for healing. This November, MenHealing we will be celebrating our milestone 90th retreat!

We are honoring this landmark event by appealing to YOU to help us raise $90,000 during the final 90 days of 2021 with our MenHealing: $90K In 90 Days fundraising campaign!

We have planned a number of activities during this campaign. Here are just two up-coming events.

JOIN US FOR OUR LIVE VIRTUAL KICKOFF EVENT ON OCTOBER 3rd!

Show your support for survivors and help us kickoff the MenHealing: $90K in 90 Days fundraising campaign by joining us for a live virtual evening of stories and entertainment, featuring music, poetry and dance with special appearances from members of the MenHealing staff.

Join us for an hour of celebration! Click HERE to register.

NEW INSTAGRAM LIVE SERIES: EXPANDING MEN’S HEALING FROM SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION

Beginning October 5th, Richard Smith will host a new 12-part Instagram Live series featuring discussions about innovative approaches for healing from sexual trauma. Guest speakers will explore a diverse range of perspectives about social and cultural factors that impact survivors' journeys of healing.

With an awareness that sexual trauma does not happen within a vacuum, each episode will delve into the intersectional ways that sexual trauma is compounded by racial and gender identities, oppression and white supremacy.

Follow MenHealing on Instagram and look out every Tuesday at 7:00 pm Eastern / 4:00 pm Pacific to see new episodes!

WOR ALUMNI SUPPORT GROUPS BEGIN

After months of planning, 32 WOR Alumni have been enrolled in 4 Support Groups. Groups are co-facilitated by Peer Leaders, each of whom are WOR Alumni themselves. The 8 volunteer Peer Leaders are each WOR Alumni themselves. They have received training in group facilitation and will receive on-going supervision from Joanna Colrain (MenHealing Board Chair) and Amy Ellis (Director of the Trauma Resolution & Integration Program, Nova Southeastern University).  These groups are intended to provide additional connection and community-building for WOR Alumni. The financial generosity of MenHealing donors allows us to offer these groups as a free service for Alumni.  We hope to expand the number of these groups in the future and to make them available to non-Alumni as well.

WOR Updates

Our recent in-person Level 1 WOR at Alta Lodge, UT. was a great success. This amazing sunset picture was taken during one of our evening dinners and expresses all the energy that was present during our 3-day retreat (this picture was from the sun & clouds, not a fire!).

Registration for the Hope Springs, OH Level 1 WOR (10/15 – 10/17) closes on Friday, 10/1  Only 3 spots remaining!

Registration for the Virtual online Level 1 WOR (11/5 – 11/7) remains open until 10/2

MenHealing is able to manage our activities because of deeply committed individuals such as YOU. We invite YOU to help sustain our work by making a donation of any amount. 85% of our operating budget is received from grassroots individual financial donations from supporters like YOU.

A GIFT OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT COMMUNICATES TO MALE SURVIVORS THAT “YOUR STORY MATTERS.”

Remember, YOU can forward this newsletter to anyone or any organization that you think might be interested. Thanks for spreading the word!

We welcome YOUR FEEDBACK and any ideas about our work via: contact@menhealing.org

Jim Struve

Executive Director, MenHealing/Weekend of Recovery

SCRIPT CONFERENCE VIDEO FEATURES MENHEALING REPRESENTATIVES

For the 4^th consecutive year, representatives of MenHealing participated in the annual Los Angeles-based Script Conference. Uma Dorn, Richard Smith, & Jim Struve were featured presenters in the 2021 Conference that now reaches an international audience via Zoom. A 56-minute video of their presentation – “Building Blocks for Social Justice: One Organization’s Experience” – is now accessible to watch at our website and via YouTube.   This presentation articulates the importance that healing from sexual victimization must also address intersecting cultural factors of social justice.

“FACES OF MENHEALING” VIDEO FEATURES MARIA ESTRADA

We are proud to feature Maria Estrada, Board Diversity Consultant, in our newest “Faces of Healing” video. MenHealing is deeply grateful to Maria for her generosity in sharing her wisdom and expertise with our Board and Facilitator Team. She is a dynamic guide, joining us in our efforts to build organizational procedures and interpersonal relationships that are genuinely inclusive of diversity and equity, not just adjunctive concerns. Get to know more about the richness of Maria and her life experiences in this newest video in our “Faces of Men Healing” video series.

This video is also available with Spanish subtitles.

WEEKENDS OF RECOVERY CELEBRATE 20 YEARS

September 2021 is a milestone 20-year anniversary for the Weekends of Recovery program. The first WOR was conducted in September 2001. WORs have been conducted each of the following 20 years, with our 90^th WOR scheduled for November 2021.

Our up-coming “$90K in 90 Days” Funding Campaign will honor the vitality of the WORs, with a goal of raising $90,000 in the final 90 days of 2021 to support our pioneering efforts to heal male survivors. A dynamic gala event to launch our Campaign will be hosted by Maria Estrada, as noted above being featured in our newest Faces of MenHealing video. An hour of entertainment will feature Peitao Zhu - a member of our WOR Facilitator Team and an accomplished pianist; Michael Guinn - a male survivor who was in presenter in the 2021 “Survivors’ Healing Journeys” Story Project; the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus - whose members include Howard Fradkin, one of the founders of the WORs; and Simone Dance Company - a performance to celebrate gender diversity. Check your inbox for more details in the next few weeks.

MenHealing is able to manage our activities because of deeply committed individuals such as YOU. We invite YOU to help sustain our work by making a donation of any amount. 85% of our operating budget is received from grassroots individual financial donations from supporters like YOU.

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BOARD & FACILITATOR TEAM RETREAT UPDATE

The Facilitator Team conducted their annual Retreat at Alta Lodge, Utah on August 15th - 17th.  This was the first time we have all been together in person since August 2019; during that expanse of time our team has grown from 14 to 18 Facilitators.  Meanwhile, the Board convened a virtual Retreat on August 20th - 22nd. The Board has also added 4 new members in the last 2 years.  Both Facilitator Team and Board reflect the expanding depth of organizational multiculturalism.

Facilitators and Board reaffirmed several important commitments that define our organizational culture:

• Environmental Sustainability - healing the earth must be woven into our work of healing sexual victimization; our activities require an intention to minimize our environmental footprint.
• Social Justice - we have a responsibility to address social and cultural factors that intersect with sexual victimization; effective healing includes active participation in movement-building efforts to end sexual violation and its intersection with other social justice issues.
• Multiculturalism - we seek to include people of all colors, ethnicities, abilities, genders, sexualities, and beliefs in our organization as well as in the resources we provide; genuine inclusion and equity requires bold challenges to the status quo.
• Grassroots Participation - we are committed to honor the wisdom and energies of the survivors whom we serve; WOR Alumni are included in the organizational fabric of MenHealing - as active support staff, board members, and special projects volunteers.

In future newsletters, we will be announcing events and services being planned for 2022.

REMAINING WEEKENDS OF RECOVERY DURING 2021

To maintain COVID safety protocols, we are reducing the number of participants for our remaining in-person WORs. We will also require vaccination and masking.

Only a few spaces remain for the in-person Level 1 WOR at Alta, UT. on 9/19 - 9/21. Registration closes on 9/4.

Registrations remain open for the in-person Level 1 WOR at Hope Springs, OH. on 10/15 - 10/17 and for the on-line virtual Level 1 WOR on 11/5 - 11/7.

Financial Assistance grants are available for all events.

WEEKENDS OF RECOVERY CELEBRATES 90!

The inaugural Weekend of Recovery was conducted in September 2001. We have conducted healing retreats for each of the past 20 years. The virtual WOR scheduled for November 2021 is a milestone 90th Weekend/Day of Recovery!!

We will be launching our 2021 funding campaign on October 3rd. Our campaign this year will be “90K in 90 Days” - we will honor our 90th WOR/DOR by appealing to YOU to help us raise $90,000 during the final 90 days of 2021.

Did you Know?  COVID shutdowns were implemented just a few short weeks before the date of our initial 2020 WOR. MenHealing was unequivocally committed to maintain uninterrupted service. We quickly educated ourselves about the potential resources of Zoom, we reformatted our protocols to match the opportunities of virtual gatherings, and we re-budgeted our financial resources to meet the challenge. We decreased registration fees for all WOR/DOR events and MenHealing absorbed the  financial responsibility to maintain continuity of our event schedule throughout 2020 and 2021.

We have demonstrated that our commitment to provide healing resources to male survivors is genuine and bold. During our “90K in 90 Days” campaign we will be appealing to YOU to help us re-build our financial reserves. We hope to surpass our goal of $90,000. 

Did You Know?  $90,000 will cover the expenses to conduct 3 WORs or $90,000 will provide financial assistance to 90 male survivors with financial hardship who would not otherwise be able to afford attending a WOR.

If you want to get involved to help us with our Fall campaign this year, please contact Jordan Masciangelo.

MenHealing is able to manage our activities because of deeply committed individuals such as YOU. We invite YOU to help sustain our work by making a donation of any amount. 85% of our operating budget is received from grassroots individual financial donations from supporters like YOU.

PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A SUMMERTIME GIFT TO MENHEALING. 

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