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Breaking the silence surrounding the sexual abuse of children is key to stopping this vicious cycle that continues to be passed from one generation to the next. Help us to help children who are survivors of sexual assault to do just that.
I'm Donna Jenson and I founded Time To Tell with the mission of sparking stories from lives affected by incest and sexual abuse to be told and heard.
It took me seven years to write my play,
What She Knows: One Woman's Way Through Incest, based on my experience of surviving incest and what I did to make my life worth living. Every scene written, every word recited, has been medicine for me. And what a delicious circle - first I heal from making art, this play, out of my trauma, then I share it with others, this trauma transformed into a performance, and audience members get some healing and courage to talk about their experience. See excerpts of the play
here.
Luckily, I'm not alone. John Sheldon, master guitarist, accompanies me with his remarkable score and two original songs: "A Way Through" and "It Wasn't Your Fault," key messages of the play. He's former lead guitarist for Van
Morrison and a James Taylor songwriter. Also, Jackie Humphreys, Clinical
Consultant to the project, is at the performances. She's a licensed
social worker with two decades of experience in this issue, offering support to
audience members wishing to talk to someone.
I started out thinking my audience would be other adult survivors, women like me. Surprise! Surprise! They are but there's more. I didn't anticipate how my play could reach boys and girls. The boys being juvenile sex offenders ages 8 to 20 at the Stetson School in Barre, MA. See what their clinicians say about
the impact I�ve had on the them here. The girls are serving sentences in a highly secure incarceration and treatment facility, the Rotenberg School, in Westboro, MA. Ages 13 to 20, 75% have suffered sexual assault.
The Impact
Reaching young people, in particular, who have been abused as well as those who have abused others offers a great opportunity to help in stopping this cycle of violence perpetuated through families and communities. Here's what the girls were saying in their thank you notes after our performance at Rotenberg:
"I really liked your story, very sad but I liked it more cuz you got the courage to tell us."
"Thank you for sharing your story with us. It inspired us to stand up for ourselves."
"You encouraged me to love myself more and to want more in life. Thanks."
And NOW!
We're collaborating with The Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, CAASE, an advocacy
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organization, that is working to bring the performance to venues and
groups that can benefit from the show's powerful message of survival and hope.
These organizations include formerly incarcerated women and prostituted
youth. CAASE will also help promote the show to groups throughout the
city so that they can benefit from being able to attend the performance.
Read more about this fabulous organization at www.caase.org.
What We Need & What You Get
We need $6,000 for travel expenses from western Massachusetts to Chicago, Illinois to spend a week giving performances and follow-up workshops to all these groups free of charge. That's what all the funds from this campaign will be used for.
If the sexual abuse of children is of concern to you - supporting our work gives you a meaningful way to participate in breaking the silence that surrounds and perpetuates it.
In addition, see the tangible rewards awaiting your involvement on the right side of this page.
Other Ways You Can Help
You can also help *big time* by sending this link to all the people you know telling them what you think of it.
You might say, like some have already said, "it's one of the most innovative ways I've seen for touching hearts and minds about this issue" or that "this project gives me real hope that there can be a change" or, "after hearing Donna's story and John's music, I feel cleansed."
organization, that is working to bring the performance to venues and
groups that can benefit from the show's powerful message of survival and hope.
These organizations include formerly incarcerated women and prostituted
youth. CAASE will also help promote the show to groups throughout the
city so that they can benefit from being able to attend the performance. Read more about this fabulous organization at