Your NAASCA Newsletter: for survivors / activists | May 2019

May's Newsletter Theme:
"Being of Love and Service"
How YOU Can Share Your Love and Service
Select a Volunteer Activity Below!
Make a Difference for NAASCA!
Thank you!!
a non profit 501(c)3

Because of you and our simple MISSION, more
kids are being protected, more adult survivors served!

NAASCA has a single purpose, to address issues related to childhood abuse and trauma including sexual assault, violent or physical abuse, emotional traumas and neglect .. and we do so from two specific perspectives :

  • educating the public, especially as related to getting society over the taboo of discussing childhood sexual abuse, presenting the facts that show child abuse to be a pandemic, worldwide problem that affects everyone

  • offering hope for healing through numerous paths, providing many services to adult survivors of child abuse and information for anyone interested in the many issues involving prevention, intervention and recovery

Building a survivor / activist / professional community ... because together we can do what we cannot do alone .


Welcome to the May 2019 Newsletter

Thank you for subscribing to NAASCA's newsletter mailing list!
Please encourage others to get in touch by suggesting they


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This month's newsletter theme is:

"Being of Love and Service"

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Upcoming May Dates

May 12 Mother's Day (Sunday)
May 22 Emergency Medical Services for Children Day (Wednesday)
May 25 National Missing Children's Day (Saturday)



Dedicate your birthday to supporting NAASCA 

by Bill Murray 

Recently, and all of a sudden, it was that time again .. my BIRTHDAY !!! .. (March 26, 1953)

It seems like this happens every year! LOL

There are numerous ways to support our truly unique organization.

Here's a new one! The Birthday Campaign !!!
Join NAASCA's Public and/or Closed groups on Facebook!!

Or, if you prefer, join our LinkedIn group!

We're building a survivor / activist community!
"Being of Love and Service"
 
NAASCA has grown into an international nonprofit, being of Love and Service to adult survivors of child abuse throughout the world! NAASCA provides over 30 free services, all of which are described on our website, www.NAASCA.org . The NAASCA family’s love is, perhaps, the greatest “service” through the mutual caring and support each of us survivors gives to each other.
 
With growth come additional workloads that have expanded beyond the limits of the few people currently tasked with maintaining NAASCA’s outreach and services. NAASCA’s Founder/CEO and the Board of Directors (all of whom are volunteers), plus a small cluster of additional volunteers, have dedicated their time, resources, and energy to keeping the NAASCA Lifeboat afloat.
 
With this month’s theme, “Being of Love and Service,” now is the time to show NAASCA some love through service . Maintaining an international organization, solely with volunteers and our own resources, requires a larger number of “helpers” than ever before. A wide range of volunteer opportunities await those of us who have benefitted from the love and service provided BY NAASCA and wish to return the love through service TO NAASCA.
 
Please review the following list of volunteer tasks and opportunities for additional areas needing help this time, and choose one task to take responsibility and ownership of , so overworked volunteers are given some aid and respite, and so important tasks that have been languishing due to the need for more volunteers can be addressed. When you have selected the task you wish to champion, please let Terri Lanahan, the Volunteer Coordinator, at t_lanahan@yahoo.com - 406 / 782-5235, know of your commitment and time availability.
 
List of tasks/positions/responsibilities
 
Thank you for sharing your love and service among others in the NAASCA family!
 
Bill Murray
NEW: International NAASCA Ambassadors Needed
NAASCA's Global Ambassadors .. representing the world !!
Having now completed what originally seemed like a daunting project, listing all the North American Ambassadors in the US and Canada, we've decided it's time to launch our International version. We're encouraging Global Ambassadors who'll represent NAASCA from around the world. We'll separate them in such a way as to organize by continent, country and, where appropriate, state or territory.
Remember, these are living lists. You can help us by volunteering to be the point person for the NAASCA organization in your area. A small amount of training by Terri Lanahan, who coordinates this project, may be required for all the volunteer Ambassadors, including a basic familiarity with our web site, projects, tools, services & resources, and a commitment to represent the NAASCA name, mission and family in one's country, state or province.

Just contact Terri Lanahan: t_lanahan@yahoo.com
 
Where Is the Love? .. the Service?
When our childhood has been stolen and destroyed – particularly by those who are supposed to protect us – we try to figure out this violent world to the best of our ability with our child’s knowledge, understanding, and worldview. Whether the abuse was a single traumatic experience or a prolonged series, pain and fear become our world as “normal” for us.

Coming from a child’s perspective, we see our world as violent and thus we tell ourselves that we must bad to be punished so cruelly. We learn to appease, to comply, to avoid being hurt. We take that violent, mistrusting worldview with us to school, to work, and to our social interactions. We are hypervigilant, constantly aware of our surroundings and threats of danger everywhere we look. We try hard to please the teacher, the boss, and other “parent” figures, to keep them from getting angry and hurting us.

As we grow up, we long for a close relationship where we are loved. Too often, though, the person we meet – who initially seems to provide the love we desperately want – eventually turns against us and becomes another abuser. Thus, the self-fulfilling prophecy of our being bad and must be punished. Where is the love?
 
I believe every child is born filled with love and joy. However, through abuse and/or neglect, our love and joy have been buried under a mountain of crap we internalized – and often perpetuate – about not being worthy of being loved and unable to love at all. Although the love has been buried, it has not been destroyed.

We see, hear, or read about other abused children and we empathize with them – often crying, sometimes angry, but usually feeling their pain. We express compassion to those children, hoping they receive the help, support, and love we didn’t get. Although these interactions with other abused children makes us sad or angry, our ability to show compassion – instead of showing a lack of interest or apathy – demonstrates the love we still have shining within us from under the crap.

I believe all of us survivors have love within us, although the depth of the mountain atop the love may differ in height and width. We can start removing the old garbage, old tapes, old beliefs – and we can start building new tapes and new beliefs that reveal the love within us. We are all born filled with love and joy – and we can find that love and joy within us again, by changing our worldview from one of punishment for some unknown sin to one of hope for a future brighter than the past.

We can each become a phoenix rising out of the ashes of our childhoods. It is definitely worth the journey.


NAASCA's Grateful to All Our Members & Volunteers !

We Need YOU!

We Need Each Other!

Fighting For Kids,
Serving Adult Survivors
Did you know that NAASCA is entirely staffed by non-paid volunteers including the Board of Directors?

All the services, programs, tools, resources, and social media efforts that we offer entirely  FREE  to anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world are staffed by volunteers from our NAASCA family!

It literally would not be possible without YOU .

There are many ways you can volunteer with NAASCA. If you have a little time or a lot, your help is greatly appreciated and needed. Check out our list of available positions here:


Check Out NAASCA's Promotions & Fundraising Tools !


Have You Listened to Our Talk Radio Show Lately ?

Sunday through Friday evenings we broadcast an internet-based live streaming talk show. This is one of the best FREE SERVICES we offer to our NAASCA members!

All shows start at 8pm EST so that's
7pm CEN , 6pm MTN & 5pm PAC .


We really want to hear from you!


Anyone can participate or just listen to the show by calling:

(646) 595-2118

Are You a Survivor of Child Abuse Looking for Support?

In need of support in your local community?

NAASCA provides listings for your local area in our Recovery Groups and Services page. We have gathered ALL the English speaking recovery groups and services we can find, not only in North America but from around the world. This list can connect you with numerous agencies, therapy, support groups and other resources in your local area.

Looking for support after hours or from home?

Can't find a group you can get to easily or want to connect when it is after business hours? Needing a way to talk about your story but want to stay anonymous? We also provide a link to another separate listing for Online Groups and Services , for Internet-based recovery groups.

As you can imagine, keeping this listing current and updated is a huge task. You can help other survivors find the support they need.

Submit updates for the Recovery Groups List to Carolin O'Hara:

Submit any updates for the Online Resource List to Valerie:

You are not alone, and never have to be, a day at a time!


All members of NAASCA are part of our 'NAASCA family', and that's not just something we say. We care about each other and that includes YOU.

We want you to feel comfortable reaching out to any of our volunteers, with any of your questions about what NAASCA offers, or for help navigating the website.

Even if you simply want someone to talk to when you are dealing with a difficult moment in your recovery as a survivor... we are here for you.

Some are listed as night owls, some as available 24/7, others are part of our International community, still others are young or helping some specific types of survivors. Try it!
A Note from Our Founder and CEO:
Healing from child abuse and trauma can be a very lonely journey .. but you'll never be alone again, a day at a time, if you don't want to be !!
NAASCA belongs to no other group and receives no outside funding. We're self-supporting through our own members' voluntary contributions.
Please consider a one time
or recurring donation .
Thanking you for all you do in the fight against child abuse and trauma and welcoming you to engage with your NAASCA family, I remain, as always,

Yours in service,

Bill Murray , Founder and CEO
National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse.   
NAASCA | a 501(c)(3) | 323 / 552-6150 |  Bmurray3d@aol.com  | NAASCA.org