June 05, 2009
Abuse Survivors Learning to Thrive
No, the headline for this post is NOT one of my slogans for my blog and website, Survivors Can Thrive! But, I sure do love it because it is such a great fit for the message I aspire to in my real life and the awareness-raising blog world in which I circulate.
This is actually a slogan and subhead you will find on the home page of a message board and forum for survivors called isurvive. This forum currently has 829 registered members who have created over 88 thousand posts.
The topics in these posts are excellent and pertinent for survivors and their supporters: artwork and poetry; breaking the cycle; male survivors; sexual abuse; ritual abuse; dependence and much more. The forum is, of course, moderated and has a good safety policy. It looks like a very safe and supportive place.
Before I really got into blogging, the first thing I was involved in was posting on a couple of online forums very similar to isurvive. In fact, this was the first "forum" (pun intended) where I really felt like I could share my feelings and write from the heart, before I got the courage to do it here at my own blog. I found a lot of support and a true feeling that I am not alone--even on a truly international scale.
Because I am so involved in blogging, The Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse, Twitter and The Child Abuse ning network (see my sidebar for widgets and links to these), I no longer visit the survivor message boards. The volume there is difficult for me to keep up with at this time. Whew, I can barely keep up with Twitter and all its updates are limited to 140 characters!
But, I really want to encourage you to look into isurvive. Right now, they provide a wonderful service and they are struggling financially. I'm blogging about them today as a way to help them raise much-needed funds. A commenter at my blog--My Monster--turned me on to this cause through this post.
I also heard about it from Faith Allen at Blooming Lotus. I follow Faith through the sources I'm involved in that I mentioned above. In this post here, Faith says, "Over the last six years, I have met, supported, and by supported by hundreds, if not thousands, of child abuse survivors at Isurvive. My life is so much richer for having been touched by these very giving people – all people who were once wounded beyond imagination and now have the courage to reach out and help heal others."
Faith also asks that we include the following information: Note to readers — If Isurvive has touched your life, please consider writing about Isurvive on your own blog. If Isurvive gets enough blog entries, the charity could receive a cash award to help further its efforts.
This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.
If you'd like to get involved, please hurry! Tomorrow--June 6th--is the last day for this Blogging for a Cause campaign. Let's help a forum that helps survivors, shall we? I'm glad I did!
Labels: advocacy, awareness, Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse, breaking the cycle, community, network, ning, Poetry, survivor art, survivors, Twitter
Colleen: I'm glad I'm not the only one. Oh goody! I'll swing by.
I'm Artisttia Yarns (its my non de plum), as I am a survivor. Currently I have just finished writing an article on declaring two new holidays for survivors, as a way to get through the challenging weekends of Mother's Day and Father's Day. Please check out my article at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1833311/when_happy_fathers_day_isnt_happy.html?cat=7
I also have a site on blogspot that you may be interested in: artfulabilities.blogspot.com
Perhaps we can help survivors together.
I hope you do not mind (let me know if you do), but I have added you to my blogroll.
My Monster: What wonderful news! I'll have to put an update on the post. Thanks for telling me about the fund raiser. And, of course, it's find for you to add me to your blogroll. I've tried to visit and comment at your blog, but couldn't figure out how to log in to do that. I'll look again.
http://hellaheaven-ana.blogspot.com/2009/06/educational-commitment-award.html
The moment I saw it I thought about you.
Come and take it.
Love,
Ana
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