Domestic Violence Awareness Month - 2010

Another October, and another DVAM almost over. This has been an amazing month for Fix the Hurt. We have made some great new friends and met many incredible people. The cast, DJ, Danielle, Jori, Miciah, Kirby and Kate, and I just got back yesterday from Hobbs, NM, by way of Las Vegas and Lubbock (going) and Lubbock, Dallas, El Paso and Phx (return trip). Hobbs is a great little town with a huge heart.
I met Jan Lobeck (Sheri's Memorial Fund) last year at DVTMusical performance in El Paso for the Texas Victims of Crime Conference. She said at the time, "I want to bring DVTM to Hobbs." She meant it and nothing was going to stop her. Jan worked hard to raise the funds necessary, so that Domestic Violence, The Musical? could educate and raise awareness in Hobbs.
Jan's volunteers, Leticia, Gina, Janette, Shannon/Randy, Barb, Becky, Don, Ken and many others were all instrumental in making it possible for us to have a wonderful time. The cast stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast owned by Becky, Gina was our host for a delicious dinner, and Shannon and hubby, Randy and children were our chauffeurs. Janette shared her beautiful home with Jan and I.
From the time we arrived until we left Hobbs, we were treated like royalty. This is truly a great town with a lot of heart and even the Police Chief was on hand to promote DV awareness and it was obvious that domestic abuse is among his top priorities.
Friday night the audience was receptive and engaged as the cast did an outstanding job presenting the play. We were trilled and anxious now to return next year.
Thank you Jan and your Volunteers for making us feel welcome. We hope that next year we can do a NM/West TX tour.

Opportunities to Raise Awareness - DVAM

This has been an amazing first half of October - Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Though it has been a few weeks of constant performances, speaking engagements and opportunities to meet new and interesting people who share a common passion - ending domestic abuse, I have enjoyed every busy minute.
On October 6, John and I presented Control.Assault.Delete at Mesa Community College to a room of about 50-75 students/faculty members. The response was very rewarding and one young lady in particular stands out in my mind, when she cried on my shoulder, saying, "I was your daughter for 4 years." - meaning that she lived Lisa's life for a time, but she got out and now is moving forward to a good life. So many young men and women in the audience came forward to thank us and asked if they could give me a hug.
On October 12, Vickie Florschuetz, Bravery Project, and I spoke to a group of faculty from MCC Red Mountain Campus. Vickie spoke about the importance of raising awareness and the statistics that were reflective of DV on college campuses. I told Lisa's Story and many were moved to tears as I told of her journey through a 9-yr relationship.
We traveled to Yuma to AZ Western College for a performance of Control.Assault.Delete on October 16 in the AZW Theater. Our thanks to Racine Amos for making that possible.
October 18, John and I were at Ft. McDowell for C.A.D, sponsored by the City Prosecutor's Office, and we were met with a warm reception as we told our story through theater.
Lisa's Birthday, October 19 was celebrated at Azusa Pacific University in California. I spoke to 50+ young women that evening. The hugs and tears were freely shared and it was a truly rewarding experience. The Clothesline Project had been in progress for the preceding week and someone had made a T-shirt for Lisa - very sweet gesture and much appreciated.
As an added treat, my ASU Intern from last year, Whitney, drove from LA where she lives now to Azusa to spend the evening with me and the girls from APU. It was wonderful to see her and catch up on her life.
On October 21, we presented C.A.D at the Boy's and Girls Club facility in Apache Junction. This event was put together by Apache Junction Police Chief, Jerald Monahans. Our special thanks to Constance, who was attentive to all our needs. One young woman told me afterwards that she never really understood what she was putting her parents through when she was in a dangerous relationship until that evening.
Now we are looking forward to presenting Domestic Violence, The Musical? in Hobbs, NM on October 29, as a fundraising effort for Sheri's Memorial Fund. Jan Lobeck, Founder, has been working tirelessly with her volunteers and supporters to bring DVTM to the Hobbs community. We can hardly wait to be there.
So, as you can see, DVAM has been a busy time for Fix the Hurt. We love what we are doing and hope that in some small way we can make an impact to save lives and families. Until next month, be safe.

Marissa's Essay

Marissa is an intern with Gina's TEAM, the organization that pulled all the strings to allow Fix the Hurt to perform Control.Assault.Delete at Perryville Women's Prison on two different occasions. Without knowing it Marissa has written my blog post. Sue Ellen Allen, my fireball friend, who works tirelessly to bring hope and encouragement and education to the inmates at Perryville, send me this, Marissa's Essay.



"Finally, I was excited, I had gotten over my random kicks of nerves and had been looking forward to my prison visit the whole week. It's a strange thing when the highlight of your week is driving 45 minutes to the middle of nowhere and sitting in a sea of bright orange for a few hours, but at this point, I've accepted the fact that excitement in my world hasn't been aimed at anything 'normal' in a while.

"That night, all I knew was that Linda and John King were somehow involved in bringing a play about domestic violence to Perryville. I had no prior knowledge of the characters, the actors or the plot before I got into the van that evening. I started to learn more when we met the couple at Paradise Bakery for a little 'pre-prison' snack. There is no way I would have imagined that these two people radiating strength and genuine smiles had gone through so much. Not only was their daughter a victim of domestic violence, but several of their other children had been lost to chance traumatic experiences and the fact that they had kept going in light of all this made those smiles that muchmore incredible. There was no reason they had been singled out to go through so much pain, and it made me think about the low points in my own life. It makes you realize that those trivial moments were just that, trivial. An argument, a little mistake that you thought were the end of the world, were just little blips on the path to the person you are now. When you see the optimism in the Kings' eyes, after all life has thrown at them, you're given a perfect example of when things really do get that bad, there's always going to be a reason to wak up in the morning and something great to be thankful for in life. . . . . . . . .

As we pulled up to the prison, I tried to make out all the buildings and maybe remember some of the names . . . . . . . I watched the faces, and took in the general atmosphere of the cafeteria. And as far as I could see there was no difference between the people underneath the orange and those under the brown and those of us in bright pink and blues.. . . . . . I realized how hungry these women for anything with color, with words, with a connecion to anything outside the barbed wire . . .

I was a little unrecpetive in the beginning to the simplistic approach of the play, but over time it began to grow on me. I had blended into the audience . . . . to form one laughing, attentive bunch of people listening to the story unfold. We were one single unit in my mind until the Kings' started playing out the story once the physical violence happened. All of these women knew this part of the story inside and out and in each, 'Aw hell no" and F bomb dropped, I could hear them relating their life back to this girl's story whom they had never met or heard about until that night. Later during the discussion/question portion, one woman actually stood up and said that seeing this play touched her more than her own story, because she was never able to step back from her situation and see all the details played out like the King's had done. . . .

The slow realization that the person behind the black and teal was in a different place in life than those seated next to me was when the biggest impact of the play came. . . . . . .



There is more, and if you would like to read the entire essay, just let me know. Marissa has given me a gift on three sheets of paper with 1,600 words. Thank you, Marissa and Sue Ellen.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Another year, another october and another busy time for members of the domestic violence awareness movement.

September and October have brought me to some new places, new friends and amazing opportunities. One of the most exciting was the opportunity to again perform CONTROL.ASSAULT.DELETE at Perryville Women's Prison on Sept 23. The audience again was enthusiastic and made us feel that we had brought them something that they could relate to, learn from and share with one another. Deputy Warden Neese was gracious and we were pleased to be a part of that evening. Many thanks to Gina's Team and Sue Ellen Allen for making this possible.

The following day, Sue Ellen and I went to the Mingus Mountain Girls' School, near Prescott, AZ. It was amazing to meet the young women, hear their stories and share mine with them. The things they have suffered broke my heart. Some will go on to do great things and unfortunately there will be those that fall back into the trap that sent them to that school. Hopefully, the work of Gina's Team to bring speakers and new friends to them will help to give them confidence and the desire to walk a different path.

Earlier in the month of September, I spoke to Dr. Durfee's classes at ASU. As a result, I have a new intern YEAH!!!! She is so terrific. Jade is in her last year though, so I won't have her for long.

On Thursday, I did a training at Ft. McDowell Reservation at the request of the City Prosecutor's Office, then early, early Fri morning it was off to Luke Air Force Base for a breakfast/speaking engagement to kick off DV Awareness Month.

Following the breakfast, I presented to the Supreme Court Commission on Crime Victims. Friday night was the book launch for Sue Ellen's book, "The Slumber Party from Hell". It was great and she is a wonderful example of taking a terrible experience and using it to give hope to others.

On Wednesday, we will perform C.A.D at Mesa Community College. We are very excited for that performance.

I am excited that Vickie Florschuetz has spruced up the http://www.helpfixthehurt.org/ website. She made some amazing changes.

Lisa's birthday is October 19. Appropriate that I will be speaking to students at Azusa Pacific University on that day.

We are looking forward to performances at various locations in the Valley and in Yuma and then "Domestic Violence, The Musical?" in Hobbs the end of the month. Can't wait to see my friend Jan again.