Safe Passage Foundation

November 22, 2009

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

We would like to take this opportunity to update you with the latest developments and some of the events of the past year and to announce that RISE and Safe Passage Foundation have officially merged.

Last November, the directors of RISE were voted on to the board of directors for Safe Passage Foundation and the previous directors resigned to pursue  other interests.  We would like to acknowledge the hard work and vision of the  founders of Safe Passage Foundation and plan to continue and build on it.   RISE International CIC will continue as the UK branch of Safe Passage Foundation. 

Before we proceed much further, we believe it would be beneficial to consult with those born and/or raised in cults to help us shape and determine our goals and priorities.  We will be announcing further details soon and a survey form will be available on our web sites. 

UPDATE ON LAST YEAR’S MEMORIAL DAY

The major event of last year was the Memorial Day on August 10th that was held in London, and Huntington Beach, California.  Video from the event is available at http://memorial.riseinternationalcic.org/huntington-beach/

From those who attended, we received helpful feedback on the event and suggestions for the future. It was an emotional time for many remembering their loved ones, but it was also a celebration of those of us who are still here and who have made it through difficult times to overcome the obstacles and make something positive of our lives.

Suggestions and feedback for future events were to focus more on the positive successes of the second generation. We have now changed the name to Remembrance Day and hope that this day will be about remembering not only those who are not with us anymore, but celebrating and remembering the successes of  survivors who have made something of their lives, and who are doing their best with the hand they have been dealt.  As our adopted motto goes,  ‘Sometimes an ordinary life is an extraordinary accomplishment.’

Another obstacle that was raised was the timing of the event in August when many are on holiday. With this in mind, we propose to hold future Remembrance Day events on November 18th.   

Lost Children Memorial Day in Uganda

While we did not organize any memorial events this year, a Lost Children Memorial Day event was once again held in Gulu, Uganda on August 10^th by RISE International affiliate United Youth Action for Progress (UYAP).   Photographs of the event and a report by UYAP Programme Director Emmanuel Mwaka can be found at http://photos.riseinternationalcic.org/v/memorial/2009/

CONFERENCES AND NETWORKING

In June 2008, RISE International participated in a panel discussion titled "Growing up in Cults: The Special Issues of Children in Cults and Second Generation Cult Members" at the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) annual conference in Philadelphia.  The panel was moderated by Joyce Martella and included presentations by Mike Martella, Gina Cantena and Juliana Buhring.  Video footage of the panel discussion can be found at http://video.xfamily.org/view/215/icsa-panel-discussion-growing-up-in-cults/

Juliana's presentation titled "Advocating for Children's Rights" is available at http://video.xfamily.org/view/216/juliana-buhring-advocating-for-children%E2%80%99s-rights/

Through generous sponsorship, RISE International sent one of our directors, Juliana Buhring to attend the national conferences of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Chicago in August 2008 and in Washington DC in August 2009.  Juliana was able to network with other organizations who are working toward similar goals in the protection of children and fighting against child abuse within religious organizations.   At the 2009 conference, Juliana also participated in a panel discussion titled  “Surviving and escaping: How Cults thrive and exploit the vulnerable” with Glenn Favreau and William Goldberg. 

In September  2008, Juliana represented RISE in a reform campaign organized by SNAP and National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children (NAPSAC) calling for the DC City Council to pass the "Childhood Sexual Abuse Prevention Amendment Act of 2007,” to eliminate the civil and criminal statute of limitations for child sexual abusers and their facilitators and create a two year “window” in which a child abuse victim can initiate litigation against his or her perpetrator.

We also sent representation to other conferences hosted by ICSA and INFORM.  These events give us a platform to increase awareness of children's human rights amongst people that are influential in both academic and political circles. 

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

A lot of work has gone into developing a presentation discussing second generation issues and cults, and it is finally complete. For those who are second generation themselves or working in a professional capacity and would like to give a presentation on these issues, please contact us and we can send you this presentation that you can adapt. If you would like to know more or have a venue and would like to book a talk please contact us and we can arrange a speaker.

ON THE MOVE

We would like to welcome recently elected directors Janja Lalich and Sarah Martin-Gill to the board of Safe Passage Foundation.

Like four of the other directors, Sarah Martin Gill was born and raised in The Family/Children of God cult.  Since leaving the organization to start a new life, she has devoted much of her time to helping those who were raised in the same environment.  Over the past decade, she has helped provide many former second generation members of The Family with peer-to-peer counseling, immediate crisis intervention, transitional housing and referrals to various professional services including legal counsel and mental health care.  She has done most of this work on her own on an informal basis with virtually no resources or other support.  She has done many of the things that Safe Passage Foundation has talked about doing for years and we are hopeful Safe Passage Foundation can transform its plans into action with her assistance and insight.

Janja Lalich, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Sociology at California State University, Chico. Her research and writing has focused on cults and controversial groups, with a specialization in charismatic authority, power relations, ideology, and social control, and issues related to gender and sexuality.  Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships (with Madeleine Tobias - 2004) is a general introduction to cults with a focus on recovery.  Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, (University of California Press - 2005) presents a new approach to understanding cult commitments, and is based on her comparative study of Heaven’s Gate, which committed collective suicide in 1997, and the Democratic Workers Party, a radical left-wing political cult. Other works include being guest editor of Women Under the Influence: A Study of Women’s Lives in Totalist Groups (a special issue of Cultic Studies Journal 14,1, 1997); and coauthor of “Crazy” Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work? (Jossey-Bass, 1996); Cults in Our Midst (Jossey-Bass, 1995); and Captive Hearts, Captive Minds: Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Abusive Relationships (Hunter House, 1994).

Founding director Kristina Jones has moved to the advisory board so she can have more time to pursue other interests and activities.  Together with her sisters Juliana and Celeste, Kristina helped found RISE International in 2007.  We look forward to continuing to work with her and would like to acknowledge and thank her for the years of hard work she put in while serving on the board of RISE International. 

At the end of this newsletter, we have listed the current members of the Board of Directors and the Advisory Board.  If you are interested in being on the Advisory Board, the Board of Directors or volunteering in any other way, please feel free to contact us.

THERAPY AND SPONSORED PLACES FOR 2ND GENERATION WORKSHOPS  

One of our main goals for 2010 is to be able to set up a fund that can sponsor therapy and/or counseling for those who are unable to pay for it. We would also like to be able to fund places on workshops that are specifically for 2nd generation, and we hope to post specific details on this as soon as we have them. There will be an application form to access this funding and a way for donors to make designated donations to a fund for this purpose. An announcement will be made on the website when this is up and running. Of course, this project is subject to donations coming in, but we are hopeful that we can see this support available.

Lastly, and most importantly, we want to thank everyone who has supported us and volunteered their time over the years to both Safe Passage Foundation and RISE International, without which we would not be where we are today or have been able to continue.

Safe Passage Foundation/RISE International Directors

Juliana Buhring

Celeste Jones

Peter Frouman

Janja Lalich

Kristi LaMattery [on sabbatical]

Sarah Martin Gill

Alexandra Stein

Dermot Brannick [RISE International CIC director, on sabbatical]

Safe Passage Foundation/RISE International Advisory Board

Perry Bulwer

Lorraine Derocher

Kristina Jones

Gillie Jenkinson