What is the role of community and advocacy in the journey toward healing?
In the fourth episode of the series, Advocating for Resilience: Empowering Mental Wellness, we talk with Sarri Singer, a terrorism survivor and founder of Strength to Strength. Her own experience—feeling isolated upon returning from her attack while abroad—was the catalyst for her commitment to change, and her story shines a light for those looking for hope in dark times.
We talked about the unique psychological landscape of terrorism-induced trauma and how organizations like Strength to Strength provide critical peer support, offering a sanctuary for those grappling with the aftermath of such unspeakable events. We also discussed the disparities in victim support among different nations and the uphill battle for policy reform. The heart of our conversation: the power of shared stories and a common narrative of survival and strength.
Sarri Singer is the Founder and Director of Strength to Strength, focusing on bringing together victims of terrorism together from around the world and assisting with long term psychological needs. Sarri has addressed audiences throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Israel and continues to share her unique insight into the ongoing struggle for victims of terror in Israel and around the world.
On June 11, 2003, Sarri was on Bus 14 in Jerusalem when an 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist dressed as a religious Jew boarded and blew himself up. 17 people were killed, including all those seated and standing around her, and over 100 people were injured. Sarri was hospitalized for two weeks and then returned to New Jersey to be with family. Her story became high profile. She appeared on television stations such as CBS, FoxNews, CNN and radio interviews and has spoken before members of Congress in Washington, D.C. and politicians in New York and New Jersey.
You can learn more about Strength to Strength and contact Sarri on the website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.
Share your feedback about the podcast. _______ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji
Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams + position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in fostering resilience and trauma sensitivity.
What is the role of community and advocacy in the journey toward healing?
In the fourth episode of the series, Advocating for Resilience: Empowering Mental Wellness, we talk with Sarri Singer, a terrorism survivor and founder of Strength to Strength. Her own experience—feeling isolated upon returning from her attack while abroad—was the catalyst for her commitment to change, and her story shines a light for those looking for hope in dark times.
We talked about the unique psychological landscape of terrorism-induced trauma and how organizations like Strength to Strength provide critical peer support, offering a sanctuary for those grappling with the aftermath of such unspeakable events. We also discussed the disparities in victim support among different nations and the uphill battle for policy reform. The heart of our conversation: the power of shared stories and a common narrative of survival and strength.
Sarri Singer is the Founder and Director of Strength to Strength, focusing on bringing together victims of terrorism together from around the world and assisting with long term psychological needs. Sarri has addressed audiences throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Israel and continues to share her unique insight into the ongoing struggle for victims of terror in Israel and around the world.
On June 11, 2003, Sarri was on Bus 14 in Jerusalem when an 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist dressed as a religious Jew boarded and blew himself up. 17 people were killed, including all those seated and standing around her, and over 100 people were injured. Sarri was hospitalized for two weeks and then returned to New Jersey to be with family. Her story became high profile. She appeared on television stations such as CBS, FoxNews, CNN and radio interviews and has spoken before members of Congress in Washington, D.C. and politicians in New York and New Jersey.
You can learn more about Strength to Strength and contact Sarri on the website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.
Share your feedback about the podcast. _______ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji
Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams + position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in fostering resilience and trauma sensitivity.
You never want people to feel like they can't, that they don't have a voice. So I feel like when you're dealing with trauma related to terrorism, those that are in the field really need to understand that there's a difference, and I think that that's where people can start advocating by sharing their stories locally with people in the community not just the politicians but giving a voice and letting people hear what happened and what's going on in the world, so that people can be active and engaged, as opposed to saying didn't happen to me or my family, not my problem.
Manya Chylinski:
Hello and welcome to Notes on Resilience. I'm your host, manya Chylinski, and today is another episode in our advocacy series, and I'm speaking to Sarri Singer, the founder and director of Strength to Strength, which is an organization that focuses on bringing to their victims of terrorism from around the world and assisting with long-term psychological needs. She herself is a survivor of a terrorist attack, and we had a very interesting conversation. I think you're really going to learn a lot. Listen to Notes on Resilience on Apple Podcasts and subscribe, and we'd love for you to leave a review too. And hey, I'm really curious Would you recommend this show to a friend?
Manya Chylinski:
If not, would you be willing to let me know why? Send me an email right now and tell me what's stopping you from recommending notes on resilience to your friends? What can I do to make this the kind of show you would recommend to your friends? I want to make a show that people really enjoy and brings value to their lives. You can email me at mania, at maniachilinskicom, or fill out the form in the show notes. Thanks, Sarri. I am so excited to have you on the podcast and get this conversation on the record. How are you today?
Sarri Singer:
I'm good. Thank you, I'm glad to be here and I'm happy to discuss anything you want to talk about.
Manya Chylinski:
All right. Well, before we dive into the topic at hand, I ask everybody this question this year if you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
Sarri Singer:
That's a really interesting question. I think that if you would have asked me that question a long time ago, my answer would be different. But it'm not going to. It's going to be weird because I don't really think it's a historical figure, but I think that if there was anybody that I could have dinner with, I'd want it to be like family, like great grandparents, like people that I didn't know, as I think that through my experiences I've realized the importance of that the family and connection and history and understanding better where we come from, to how we are today in the future. So I don't know if it's historical figure, but I think that if there was anyone I'd want to have dinner with, it would probably be my grandparents or great grandparents, because I don't remember my grandparents that much, so I was really little when they both passed away.
Manya Chylinski:
Okay, that would be amazing. Yeah, I wish I could make it happen for you. I say that to everyone because everyone's got such great answers and I don't even know.
Sarri Singer:
What was the best answer you heard from somebody of who they wanted to have dinner with?
Manya Chylinski:
So I think they're all great answers, but one that I really liked was someone who wants to meet the person or people who invented glass or who discovered glass, and to think of all the things that we do now that involve this material, that those people never had anywhere in their minds, the kinds of things we do.
Manya Chylinski:
So that was one that was really interesting. That is interesting. So now I have slotted you into my series on advocacy and advocating for resilience. Advocacy and advocating for resilience. But just before we hit record, you said something very interesting, which is that you don't necessarily consider yourself an advocate.
Sarri Singer:
I mean, I think when I think of advocate, I guess I think it more of an official position.
Sarri Singer:
When I think of what I'm doing, I feel like I'm not only helping others, but I'm getting support and helping for myself.
Sarri Singer:
And it's about me, but it's bigger than me, yes.
Sarri Singer:
So I don't look at it as more advocacy. I look at it as more that in the bigger picture of schema things, especially when you look at the US the amount of people that have either survived or lost loved ones to terrorism is relatively small compared to the amount of people that are in the United States and even in the world. And I feel like we're a smaller group even though the numbers are high. And I feel like we all need to have each other's back and be helping each other to make sure that, instead of being in the post traumatic stress disorder which is what happens when you go through something this traumatic that we're in that post traumatic growth phase and the only way to get there is to make sure that we all are being given either the mental or physical support that we need. So I feel like when I'm doing this, it's not only for myself, it's for everybody that's been impacted. I want to make sure that everybody has the support that they needed, the way I had support right after my attack.
Manya Chylinski:
Yes, well, the fact that you get something, out of the work that you do doesn't mean that you are not an advocate. It just means that's great for you, that you're getting something out of that as well. I mean you. I mean you founded an entire organization and that's how I know you, through the support that I've gotten through Strength to Strength and met so many amazing people and our lives. I think to a person, everyone I know in Strength to Strength would say our lives are better for knowing you and being part of this organization. And if that's not advocacy, what is?
Sarri Singer:
I mean, I appreciate that and I love hearing that because I sort of feel like, well, first of all, the organization was born out of the fact that there was no support for me when I came back to the US.
Sarri Singer:
You know, in Israel during my attack, even after the attack, there was so much support around me and so many people that were there assisting me not only volunteers and organizations, but actual victims, survivors and bereaved family members that were there for me that I had worked with prior to my attack. For me I felt like I was in Israel. I had all the support around me for the year I lived there after the attack and then I came back to the US and I was alone and I had no support system. I didn't know anybody who had been through what I had been through and there was nobody really for me to connect to. And I did know. There was one family that I knew that lost their daughter in a terrorist attack in 1995 in Israel, but that I felt was different. They were a bereaved family. I knew them but I didn't feel like it was my place to reach out to them because I survived and their child didn't.
Sarri Singer:
So it was hard to try and find and that's really where Strength to Strength came from. It was born out of a need to feel like there was support somewhere, and that's really where strength to strength came from. It was. It was born out of a need to feel like there was support somewhere and that people understood and that nobody felt that they were alone. Cause that feeling of of alone that I felt when I first came back was really hard, and I don't think many victims talk about that isolation, of feeling alone If there isn't somebody near you or that you're connected with that understands what you've been through and after my attack I had all the support around me.
Sarri Singer:
There's a lot of people that knew what I had been through and they were my support system. So to be in a place where you have all this support. And then you come to where you're supposed to feel the most support, because you're home and you're in a place where you feel safe. But instead of feeling, I did feel safe at home, so to speak, with my family, but I felt alone, that nobody understood what I had been through.
Manya Chylinski:
Right, right, yes, I definitely that rings very true to me as well. But you know you have also I mean you've worked with members of Congress, with politicians. You've talked about this issue, you've talked about the importance of taking care of people after terrorist attacks. I mean you are advocating for change the way things are now. We want to see them different. So, given that I know you don't think of yourself as an advocate, but how do you think about making change on a larger scale? You have made change on a significant scale. You've made change in a lot of people's lives, but how do you think about changing the way we are as a society?
Sarri Singer:
the way we are as a society. So, first of all, I think that what I'm doing in my voice is for the 17 innocent people who didn't get to go home to their family members on June 11th of 2003, which was the day of my terrorist attack. I feel that anything I'm doing is to make sure that their story is heard, that they're remembered and that their voice is not lost throughout this, and I think that they represent for me every victim of terrorism, no matter where they are in the world. Every civilian victim deserves to make sure that they have some sort of support, and I think that we're fighting this fight all over the world. It's not just here in the US. Our victims in the UK are fighting for support there. In reality, the best support for victims in the world is in Israel. They unfortunately understand and are able to support the needs of victims long-term. I don't know if I would say that currently, with what's going on in Israel right now, but before October 7th, the support services were very extensive for victims. I think France is catching up to Israel in the support service area, but you've got Northern Ireland, you've got Spain, you've got Algeria, you've got Iraq. These are all countries that we work with that have existing nonprofit organizations on the ground working with civilian victims of terrorism. So we work with Argentina, colombia, uganda, kenya. We work with an organization in Australia, belgium and then here in the US we work with 9-11 survivors Oklahoma City, boston Marathon bombing. We've partnered with the Pulse Nightclub Foundation on a couple of initiatives and we're trying to grow this out more to make sure that we have a global network of support for victims of their families. And it does take time and not everyone's going to engage right away. But we look to our partners to hopefully make these things happen. And we work with organizations that are advocating for change in policy in their countries. For example, we work with Survivors Against Terror in the UK that all they do is advocacy and policy change.
Sarri Singer:
I don't know if I'm looking for policy change in the US, because I've tried that and it's been very difficult and I've tried to speak about the needs for me as an American. Victim of a terrorist attack overseas should not be looked at any differently than a victim of terrorism in Boston or 9-11. But unfortunately it is looked at differently and the support services are different if you're an American that was in a terrorist attack overseas, outside of the US, versus if you were in the US. And I think that that's a problem that I focus on a lot and try and deal with government officials and members of Congress to see if there's a way to change those parameters to what is offered. Because, as a victim of terrorism, of an attack overseas, any survivor or bereaved family member is given support through the State Department. So we're given a lot of different options physical and psychological support department. So we're given a lot of different options physical and psychological support Whereas from what I know and from speaking to our members Boston 9-11, oklahoma City they're not offered those same opportunities. And it bothers me very much that we're all American citizens just because the attack happened on US soil doesn't make any difference. So those things I'm advocating very strongly for in terms of trying to make change and trying to help victims. But I think that it's easier when you are based in the country of where those things need to happen. When you are outside and I'm looking into other countries it's very difficult as somebody who's not a citizen of that country to make policy change. I think what's really amazing is that we are working with a number of people in different countries who are focusing on that, to try and get more psychological support for victims, to make sure the government is really taking care of everybody. But we're learning from each other and I think that's really important. That what part one of the things that Strength to Strength really does is that, and I wanted to do is that we share resources to make sure that we're helping each other. It's not just about one organization, it's about all of us that have been impacted by terrorism coming together and making sure that we have the support, no matter where we are in the world, and that, to me, is vital.
Sarri Singer:
I've taken the opportunity over the years to speak to members of Congress, members of Parliament in the UK, to discuss issues that are important, but I wouldn't say they were.
Sarri Singer:
I don't know if I would say they were advocacy issues overseas. I talk about terror financing and that when money is being sent over as foreign aid from any of these other countries, where is the paper trail and where do the members of Parliament see this money going to? And they have no clue. And my attitude is that we need to make sure that everybody knows that our countries and our governments are not helping to perpetuate the terrorism in the world, the terrorism that has impacted all of us. So those things I think to me are really important. That's why, when you said advocate, I kind of find it difficult because in the US itself I'm advocating for stuff and support for victims here, but globally I feel like it's not advocacy. In the same way, I think it's sharing resources and experiences to help other victims in other countries and really bringing the attention to politicians if we can overseas about the things that they are doing. That could be really helping and enabling terrorism to perpetuate throughout the world.
Manya Chylinski:
Right? Well, I do think one of the strengths of Strength to Strength and the work that you are doing is that global network, and it is that you have survivors of all sorts of different attacks all around the world and that you're building relationships with these organizations. So, like you said, maybe you're not the one who's officially doing the advocacy, but you are providing support, or I was almost thinking. Strength to strength is like a multiplier. You come in and help the people who are doing the work on the ground, and you're doing some of the work on the ground here in the U? S and you may.
Manya Chylinski:
For those of you listening, yes, I am totally fangirling because Sarri is is just an amazing force for for a lot of reasons, and I continue to be impressed with the work that you do, Sarri. So you know you have talked to politicians. You know here and in the UK and in other places. So, whether or not you call the work that you do advocacy, what can you tell us about? Like, what is the way to reach someone, a politician? You know whether it's local or national. How can we share our story most effectively with someone in power like that?
Sarri Singer:
So I think it's really important. First of all, I don't think it's just about us that are impacted. I think that people need to realize that terrorism is not just those of us that are impacted. It's really a global issue and that right now, thank God, you might not have any connection to it, but you never know if in the future you are going to have a connection to it, because it does impact our world heavily in many, many ways, in many, many ways. I think that for those of us that you know when you start off, I think local politicians are definitely the way to go, reaching out to them, letting them know what happened, and that you want to reach out to them and it's funny you're telling me this because you are the advocate reaching out to politicians as well. So it's kind of like pot calling kettle black. It's really.
Sarri Singer:
I always feel like my story is a story of thousands of people in Israel and around the world that have been impacted by terrorism, and every time I share my story, it's bigger than me, it's not only about me, and so I feel like that when any victim wants to share their story, the first thing they need to do is to either connect locally with a local politician that they can talk to, and it might not even be starting off talking to a politician. It could be starting off speaking at you know, to you know local psychologists that want to learn more about trauma and want to hear from somebody that's been through it, because many, as much as like a lot of psychologists, already talk about that they have experienced in trauma. There are very, very few that have experience of trauma related to terrorism and trauma is trauma, is trauma, no matter what it is. But trauma connected to terrorism is different in the ideology of the idea of the motivation behind what has happened, and I think that that takes on a whole different realm than other traumas, and I would never put a group of victims of terrorism in a room with other people that had a different trauma, because crossing traumas waters down one or the other or makes somebody feel like how can I share what I went through? That was horrific.
Sarri Singer:
You never want people to feel like they can't, that they don't have a voice.
Sarri Singer:
So I feel like when you're dealing with trauma related to terrorism, those that are in the field really need to understand that there's a difference and I think that that's where people can start advocating by sharing their stories locally with people in the community not just the politicians, but giving a voice and letting people hear what happened and what's going on in the world, so that people can be active and engaged, as opposed to saying didn't happen to me or my family, not my problem Because it is your problem, even if it didn't happen to your family and I think that's a very American concept that if it didn't happen to me or my family I don't need to worry about it.
Sarri Singer:
But I can say from experience that my family never thought and I never thought that I would have gone through this. So it's sort of like you want. The one thing I say is like thank God that strength to strength is there, that if somebody needs the organization, there's a place for them to go. Because when I returned to the States there was nothing, and so I feel like it was a little selfish on my part because I wanted to make sure that not only that I was supported, but that other people didn't have to go through those skillings that I went through the first few months back.
Manya Chylinski:
Right, and you know something that you just said. What you just said is something that I hear a lot of advocates say. I'm not saying that you are an advocate, let's not go down that path again, but what you said is I don't, you know, I want, I don't want them to feel the same thing, that I felt so isolated or, you know, in my case, invisible. So it's the same impetus of this thing has happened. It's distressing for all sorts of reasons and I want to try to mitigate that feeling for other people. And you know you have a regular job outside of your work, with Strength to Strength and I don't know how you do it, the amount of time that you donate to, that you give to Strength to Strength. But how do you balance, like self-care, with this work, Because it can be very emotional as well?
Sarri Singer:
It is. We just came off. Last week we had our first ever conference that we did. It was called the Voice of the Victims Forum and it was basically for victims, by victims, and the idea behind it is that we go to all these conferences, mostly in Europe. There are these conferences, but there's like one or two panels where there are victims on them and the victims are like sharing their stories like every single detail, and you like don't even want to be in the room because you know what they've gone through and you don't need to hear it. But then you've got all the other panels, these three days of like politicians and psychologists and experts saying what they think and how we are, and I thought like this was something that needs to change. So this was the first time that this was specifically a conference just for victims and there were some psychologists and representatives from our partner organizations on there, but it was the victims on the panels and the victims discussing things and it was a tremendous, tremendous opportunity for us to really engage with people and we had 10 partnering organizations, we had 15 people in person and we had over 20 on Zoom and we discussed issues of things that we need to be doing to help victims going forward, and this is the beginning of something that we're going to continue doing, and I think that you know, for me it's really important that that we continue and move forward with things that are going to make people feel like they are getting the support, but that they're moving as opposed to being stagnant and being the victimized person, that there's change and there's movement and people can feel that they're getting stronger and that they're empowered. And that's what the conference was about. And then, after the conference, the next day we went into a weekend retreat with other victims and it was really just an incredible, incredible weekend.
Sarri Singer:
There's a lot of work that goes into all of these things planning, coordinating but I think that when something is that important to us and we're that passionate about it, it doesn't matter what else we're doing. We're making the time for it. So, while I do have a full-time job and I love my job my passion really is making sure that people feel supported and that people feel that they have a connection and that I feel I have a connection. I always say the selfish thing about this is that I have friends all over the world, in all these different countries, that are part of my family now and everything I do I'm doing for them because they're part of my family. So I don't look at it. It is exhausting. I'm not going to deny that. It's hard, it's exhausting. There's a lot that goes into it and I want to make sure everybody's happy, and that's always a difficult thing. But and I want to make sure everybody's happy and that's always a difficult thing, but it's it's the most meaningful thing that I do and I think for me when I think about this.
Sarri Singer:
On my bus that day when the 18 year old terrorist detonated, he injured over a hundred of us and he murdered 17 innocent people, including everyone seated and standing around me, murdered 17 innocent people, including everyone seated and standing around me.
Sarri Singer:
And I remember I was in the hospital and my friend called me from the States and she said to me you know, all the people around me that were seated and standing were killed.
Sarri Singer:
And she said you know, I think that they were protecting you for all the good that you had done previously in your life. And about an hour or two later I'd spoken to my rabbi and he said to me you never survive something for what you did in the past. You survive for what you're going to do in the future, and I totally believe that there's no rhyme or reason why I'm here and the 21-year-old girl next to me didn't survive, except I really believe that I'm here to do this work and to be able to hopefully be a voice for victims and to be able to help people to feel supported and to build that global network for us. I think that's why I'm here, and so I think that's what pushes me and what drives me to make sure that this continues and the work that Strength to Strength is doing will just move forward. No matter what, no matter what obstacles are there, we are still going to do what we need to get done.
Manya Chylinski:
Yes, well, thank you for that and I I that's interesting to think of that. You, you survive for what you're going to do. I like Now the way that this energy that you were feeling in this pull was to create an organization. That's a lot of work to build and sustain an organization. What recommendations do you have for someone who is at the stage in their life that, for some reason, they're thinking the thing I need to do to fix this or to help this is to create an organization.
Sarri Singer:
So I think for me, one of the most important things that I did was I reached out to people that were already doing this work.
Sarri Singer:
I made sure to find people to engage, to get them involved in the work that I was doing, like, for example, our lawyer who helped to do all the 501c3 and our stuff to become a nonprofit he was a survivor of 9-11.
Sarri Singer:
So I found people within the area that understood the importance of what we were trying to do to help us along the way.
Sarri Singer:
It takes a village I don't do this on my own.
Sarri Singer:
We've got amazing volunteers, we've got incredible members of Strength to Strength and an incredible board of directors and advisory board that all contribute to different things that we do.
Sarri Singer:
But it does take a village to not only do anything in life but to build an organization, and I feel very grateful that I've been able to connect and meet with the people that I've met with over the years not only our members but, like the board, members that have nothing to do with terrorism or haven't been impacted directly, but wanted to be on the board to help us and wanted to be a part of solving the problem, because if you are not trying to solve the problem, you're part of the problem in my opinion.
Sarri Singer:
So I feel like we have people that are engaged with us that want to help solve the problem of making sure that those civilians impacted by terrorism are able to move forward and live their lives the best they can. That just because they've been through this traumatic experience doesn't mean that they can't live a life doing good things and being successful. And I think sometimes, when there's trauma involved, people feel like that they can't do things, that they can't move forward. And Strength to Strength is all about empowering and engaging and connecting and sharing experiences to make sure that people know they're not alone and that they're able to do the things they want to do in life with the support of others that have been through that experience, with that connection and peer support.
Manya Chylinski:
Yes, well, thank you, that's very helpful. Definitely it takes a village, and I, for one, am grateful for you and the work that you and the village do. It has made a demonstrable difference in my life, and before I get super emotional about that, I'm going to ask you. We're getting close to having to wrap up, so what is giving you hope right now?
Sarri Singer:
That's an amazing question and a very difficult question, because I think there's two parts to it. I think for myself and, again, many of our members. You know we're very blessed to have such a diverse group of members. We've got members that are Jewish, that are Christian, that are Muslim, that are Hindu, that are atheists and everything in between, and I don't even know some of the things that people think religiously, because I don't think we specifically talk about religion unless something happens within our retreats that there's a religious component or somebody needs something that's religious involved. You know somebody needs to go to church or somebody. You know there's a specific thing, you know if you're Jewish, for Friday night when you're having your dinner and you have to make a blessing on somebody. So there's little things that people will see. But in the bigger scheme of things, you know, there's no to me differentiation between a victim of one religion versus another. But what I do find is that since October 7th, which many of us, especially those of us impacted and were victims of terrorist attacks in Israel, specifically perpetrated by Hamas, that have been re-traumatized heavily, and it hasn't gone away. You know it's months and months and months later and it's still there.
Sarri Singer:
What I find that gives me hope for the world today is that on October 7th, when my phone rang and I'm a Sabbath observer, so I don't use the phone usually on Saturday, but when I saw another one of our survivors, who was also a Sabbath observer, calling me, and I saw my Garmin watch go off and it said Israel at war, I picked up my phone. And from the point that I picked up my phone, that whole weekend I was on the phone with victims from all over the world, jewish and non-Jewish, and what I think was the most incredible thing and what's been incredible we actually discussed this at the retreat was support that every single victim on our WhatsApp chat from all over the world, that they were sending messages of strength there for us if anyone needs anything, and so I think that, with all the hate and with all the terrorism that's going on, the hope for me is that our victims community, our survivors, bereaved family members, even first responders they see the truth and they understand the support that they needed to give that day and every day since October 7th and it's apparent it's ongoing. I just got a message today from a victim saying I'm just checking in to see how you're doing Didn't need to check in on me I haven't, you know, they were just here for the retreat. But I think that everyone saw, especially at the retreat and I was very vocal about it that in all the 20 years, the that the most difficult time for me was my 20th anniversary last summer and then October 7th and really the rest of the time I feel like I've just been on sort of autopilot, you know, doing everything and running around and making sure that everything's running, but there was a chunk of time where I couldn't do that, and the hope for me is that we will all come together and be there to support each other, and that's what I've seen since October 7th within our network.
Sarri Singer:
Within our network, and that, to me, is something that's so important at this vital time where it could have gone any way. People didn't have to be supporting us, but they did and they continue to do it, and, just like I would be there to support any one of our members, I felt like they stepped up and were there for me and so many others that really needed it and still need it today.
Manya Chylinski:
Yeah, absolutely Well, thank you. I'm glad there is a little bit of hope in there. And before we wrap up, tell our listeners how can they reach you and learn more about Strength to Strength Sure.
Sarri Singer:
So my email they can reach me at Sarri S-A-R-R-I at Stosglobalorg. That's my email and our website is stosglobal. org. They could definitely check out the websites and shoot an email, whichever is the best way to get in touch. We love volunteers, love people who want to support our work, and we're just grateful for anyone that wants to engage and just be a part of this global community to give support and to make sure that victims are taken care of long term.
Manya Chylinski:
Thank you so much and I appreciate you taking the time to chat with me, and I want to end by just reiterating that I appreciate the incredible work that you do. It's so valuable to all of us who are involved, so thank you for that. Thank you, thank you for listening. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I did. So if you'd like to learn more about me, I'm Manya Chylinski. I work with organizations to help understand how to create environments where people can thrive after difficult life experiences, and I do this through talks and consulting. I'm a survivor of mass violence and I use my experience to help leaders learn about resiliency, compassion and trauma-sensitive leadership to build strategies to enable teams to thrive and be engaged amidst difficulty and turmoil. If this is something you want to learn more about, visit my website, www. manyachylinskicom, or email me at manya at manyachylinski, or stop by my social media on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thanks so much.