We are a survivor-led movement: survivors breaking silence, building community, and demanding justice for ourselves and the next generation. The Monthly lands in the last week of every month with what is opening, what we are building, and where to find people who understand.
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This Saturday, We Stand With Survivors
Published 7 days ago • 5 min read
The Jan Broberg Foundation Newsletter, Issue 08
A national march for survivors this Saturday, a new episode tomorrow, and what is ahead in October.
The Monthly · Issue 08
Domestic Violence Awareness Month · World Mental Health Day
safety
October, and what safety looks like.
This Saturday, survivors march together across the country.
September was Recovery Month, and our community showed up for it. Cohort One of the T.I.M.E. Program got underway, and the group now meets every Tuesday. Saturdays in Survivor Circle carried us through recovery, hope, healing, and momentum. Thank you to everyone who shared, listened, or simply came and sat with us. Recovery does not end when the month does, and neither do we.
Now we look toward October. It is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and October 10 is World Mental Health Day. For many survivors, safe was a word other people used before it was ever something we felt. This month we are talking about what safety looks like: in our homes, in our bodies, and in the people we let close.
This Saturday · Survivors’ Solidarity March
Stand with survivors this Saturday
On Saturday, September 26, survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment, together with advocates and allies, are coming together across the country for the Survivors’ Solidarity March, a national day of action rooted in solidarity and collective power.
The main event is in Washington, DC, from 12:00 to 3:00 PM Eastern (10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Mountain). Speakers and a rally begin at noon at the George Gordon Meade Memorial, and then everyone marches to the White House and Lafayette Square. Marches are also happening in cities from Los Angeles to New York.
We learned about the march just this week, and it was an easy yes. It was co-founded by two survivors who turned their own experience into collective action, and that is the kind of work we want to stand beside. Jan went live with the organizers on Instagram this week, and you will hear from them on Trauma Interrupted soon.
Alone, we are drops. Together, we are a wave.
You do not have to be in one of these cities to be part of it. Follow along online, share their posts, and if you are marching in person, send us a photo. We will be talking about the march at Saturday’s Circle Meeting, where our theme is momentum.
Sarma Melngailis’ Story · The Girl with the Duck Tattoo, In Her Own Words
Sarma Melngailis built New York City’s first upscale raw vegan restaurant. Then she met a man online who, over five years, took her business, her savings, and her sense of self. She now recognizes it as textbook coercive control.
Sarma talks with Jan about how a predator learns your fears and dreams before ever meeting you, why smart, open people can be more vulnerable to manipulation rather than less, and how she found her way back to herself. For a month about safety, this is the conversation to start with.
Content note: this episode discusses coercive control, financial abuse, and non-graphic mentions of sexual abuse.
Just released
Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW. Jan sat down with her just before her novel Traitor Within came out on September 22.
Circle Meetings are every Saturday at noon sharp, Mountain Time, and each week has its own theme. The community calendar also keeps filling up with meditation, a book club, classes, and time together that never requires anyone to tell their story.
Saturdays at noon Mountain
October 3 · safety October 10 · balance, on World Mental Health Day October 17 · courage, a guest week recorded for members October 24 · truth October 31 · unmasked, costumes optional
Also this month
T.I.M.E. Cohort One continues every Tuesday at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM Mountain Trauma Interrupted every Friday, starting with Leanne Sheargold on October 2
Special Guest · Last Saturday
Healing, with Kelly Sutliff
On September 19, Jan was joined in Survivor Circle by Kelly Sutliff, the founder and executive director of Kelly’s K9s, Tails of Courage, a nonprofit that places trained protection dogs with survivors of domestic violence. Kelly is a psychotherapist and a survivor herself, and her work began with her own dog, Stella.
Together they talked about healing: why it is not a straight line or a finish, why it comes in seasons, and what changes when you stop waiting to be done. Thank you, Kelly, for sitting with our community. Members can watch the recording inside Survivor Circle.
This Saturday at 5:00 PM Mountain, we close out Recovery Month with our September Birthday Party, a special Survivor Circle celebration for everyone with a September birthday. Our Birthday Club makes sure every member feels seen and celebrated on their day. To add yours, send us your month and day in a private message, or comment on the event.
A child's time to speak should not be decided by a clock.
Ending the Statute began with a pledge Jan wrote and signed herself. At the heart of it is a simple belief: survivors of childhood sexual abuse should not lose their chance at justice because they were not able or ready to speak before a legal deadline.
No more silence, shadows or dark corners for those that have been abused by someone they know, love or trust.
You do not have to be a survivor or share a story to sign it. If you believe a child's time to speak should not run out, you can stand with us. Jan signed first, and our goal is to put 10 million names beside hers.
If you or someone you love is not safe at home, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is there 24 hours a day. Call 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
Where We Are Going
Different projects, one reason behind them.
They may look like separate projects, but they are pieces of the same goal. We want fewer children to experience abuse, more adults to recognize grooming before it becomes another child's story, survivors to have somewhere to go when they are ready, and laws that understand survivors deserve time.
JBF is survivor-led and community-funded. Donations keep Survivor Circle and T.I.M.E. free, bring SPOT6 into more communities, produce Trauma Interrupted, and carry the advocacy behind Ending the Statute.
There is still a lot we want to build, and we are really glad you are here while we build it. Thank you for reading, sharing our work, joining the conversations, and helping someone else find us when they need us.
Survivors breaking silence, building community, and demanding justice for ourselves and the next generation.
If you need support right now: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 RAINN: 1-800-656-4673 National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
We are a survivor-led movement: survivors breaking silence, building community, and demanding justice for ourselves and the next generation. The Monthly lands in the last week of every month with what is opening, what we are building, and where to find people who understand.
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