Blown for Good: Scientology Exposed
Marc Headley worked at Scientology’s secret desert compound, which houses all Scientology management, for 15 years. The 500-acre property is located deep in the California desert. The local townspeople were told lectures and films were made there. But is that all that was happening? It is the location of a multi-million dollar home for L. Ron Hubbard, built two decades after his death. It is the home of Scientology’s current leader, David Miscavige. So what really happens at the Int Base? Are the stories on the internet true? How does Scientology conduct management of its day-to-day operations? Could stories of armed guards, weapons, staff beatings, and razor wire fences be true? If so, how could a facility like this exist in modern-day America? Hundreds of staff tried to escape over the years. Some succeeded but were never seen or heard of again, and most failed. Why were people kept here? What really went on at the headquarters of Scientology? This is the story of what happened behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology.
Blown for Good: Scientology Exposed
From Crisis Calls To New Beginnings, We Show How Leaving Scientology Becomes Possible
A year of relentless help and louder hope. We open the doors on how the Michael J. Rinder Aftermath Foundation turned complaint campaigns into fuel, scaled a 24/7 crisis line, and put bold billboards across Los Angeles and London so Sea Org members know a safe exit exists. With Claire, Mark, Phil Jones, Matt Pesch, Amy Scobee, and mental health coordinator Jeff Beaumont, we walk through what real support looks like when disconnection has burned bridges and erased lifelines.
You’ll hear how law enforcement partnerships now include an anonymous reporting portal and a dedicated agency hotline, making it easier for investigators to understand Scientology’s control tactics and move cases forward. We dig into the support groups led by cult-recovery therapist Rachel Bernstein, why anonymity matters for new escapees, and how a peer buddy system helps during holidays and tough nights. Then we get practical: education grants, GED pathways, and a 2026 push into vocational training so survivors can land steady work fast. Career counselors translate “Sea Org” experience into civilian resumes, replace paper systems with modern tools, and rebuild confidence step by step.
We also celebrate momentum: recurring donors are up, total donations jumped, and aid requests more than doubled. Testimonials—kept anonymous to protect safety—show lives stabilized, apartments secured, classes started, and families holding onto hope despite disconnection. Along the way, we share powerful cultural moments: a teaser for Brothers Broken, which lays bare the cruelty of disconnection, and John C. Christensen’s Pain to Promise, a frontline look at how help becomes a new life. The takeaway is simple and stubborn: when a high-control group tries to silence help, the answer is to grow that help, register everywhere, document everything, and keep picking up the phone.
Want more people to find this work? Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review telling us what you learned or what you’re still curious about. Your voice helps someone else hear the lifeline.
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Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. Welcome to another episode of Blown for Good Scientology Exposed. We have a special episode for you today. And uh I am joined here by my lovely wife, Claire.
SPEAKER_09:Hey, hey, hey. Good day to uh be talking about the Michael J. Render Aftermath Foundation. Thank you to everyone joining us for this special year-end fundraiser edition hosted on our channel. And we have so much great content today and some very special guests.
SPEAKER_05:That's right. Um, so we've got with us here today. Let me see if I can pull these guys up. Hopefully this works. We're a little rusty here. Yes. Uh BFG channel because we've uh we've been uh out and about for the last uh few weeks. We've been in Christmas mode, Christmas and family mode. And um, okay, let's see what we got here. We've got Phil Jones.
SPEAKER_09:Hey, Phil.
SPEAKER_05:Hey, hi. And then we also have Matt Pesch and Amy Scoby.
SPEAKER_09:Yay!
SPEAKER_05:So we will.
SPEAKER_10:Hey everyone.
SPEAKER_05:Hey Matt. Hey, Amy. It's been a long time.
SPEAKER_09:It has been a hot minute. I'm so glad you guys were able to join us. Thank you, Phil, for everything that you do, and we have lots of amazing things to talk about today.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's been a good year.
SPEAKER_09:Yes, it has. It's been very much.
SPEAKER_05:I want to say this is the we've had the best uh year at the aftermath uh in terms of people helped and programs started and fundraising and donors, new donors added. We this has been by far. I mean, I is this year better than all of the other years combined?
SPEAKER_09:Certainly is.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, this was a very good year. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:Despite the continued efforts of the Office of Special Affairs to shut us down. They are failing, but they are continuing, so we know that they uh are well aware of the work that we do.
SPEAKER_05:So Yeah, I don't know if any we may have talked about this in the first year or so that we started the aftermath. But in order to raise money in different states, in some states you have to register with that state. Even if you're not getting uh donations in that state, you still need to be registered to receive donations. And for there's just certain rules.
SPEAKER_09:Not to get too deep in the weeds, but the Charleston principles outline the guidelines for nonprofits with the onset of the ability to fundraise online. So for any state, if you raise more than$25,000 in that state or have in excess of a hundred individual donors in that state, that then triggers the requirement to register with that state. And of course, from the get-go, we registered with by population the largest states. So of course, California, New York, Florida, of course, um, Colorado, anyway. But um, starting about two years ago, um various different operatives of OSA started filing complaints with various different states. And at that point, we endeavored to just say, okay, you know what, requirements are not, we'll just register with all of them. Um and we have very thorough documentation of their efforts, even up to two weeks ago, to complain and say, oh, you're not registered with this state. And I've talked to now multiple investigators. Anyway, it just as we always do, we go, you know, they know we're doing the work we're doing, so take it as a pat on the back that we need to keep going. What else can you do?
SPEAKER_05:That's right. We're we're doing the right thing because they're constantly trying to stop us.
SPEAKER_10:I know, and as soon as you say, Oh, Scientology's behind it, they go, Oh, yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_09:I know, I I say that all the time. Like every single state investigator I've talked to, I say, Well, you know, I'm not sure if you've had a look at the work that we do, and they immediately are like, Oh, yeah, no, we absolutely we took a look at your website, you're doing great work, we know what's going on here, but still, you know, help us let help us help you, and we'll we'll fast track everything that you need to shut this down, and yeah.
SPEAKER_05:In almost in 99% of the cases, they're very helpful. They are and as soon as they know it's Scientology, they're like, oh yeah, don't worry about those guys. Yeah, don't worry.
SPEAKER_09:I will say that this year they put a new um twist on it, in that in 2023 they had a private investigator calling around trying to find a somebody to make complaints, which failed. Um, but because during that time they had opened an investigation with the state of Florida, which then was closed because we provided all the information. Now in 2025, they're there um the complaints filed by Office of Special Affairs say, oh, well, there is a there was a state investigation. Yeah, and it was closed because it was completely groundless.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and the only reason they instigated an investigation was because they instigated it. They started one because they had instigated it.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, the bottom line is Scientology does not like the work that we do. We know we're we've reached, as we've as we'll be talking about today, many more people this year than any previous year, including active, you know, like extractions, um, which are, you know, Phil, you've been amazing and have seen it firsthand. Some of the things that we go through.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. Adventure.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, for sure. Never a dull moment. But yeah, anyway, it's um we just take it as a sign that we're doing, we're making progress, making strides and bounds in the right direction, and we just need to keep going.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, yeah. Scientology as a brand, it's unrecoverable at this point.
SPEAKER_09:Correct. Yeah, it really is.
SPEAKER_05:Do you want to read some of the comments real quick while we wait for people to show up?
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, let's do that.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, here we go. Let's jam through them.
SPEAKER_09:Okay, hold on. Here we go. Vernon Salvatiera, one, two, four. Hello, Claire and Mark. I'm I'm currently in Copper Mountain, Colorado during the holidays. Colorado is great for freezing.
SPEAKER_05:It is. There you go. Yes. I can't do two things at once, so I'll have to go back here.
SPEAKER_09:Sorry guys. Aunt Nettie, hi from Grand Rapids, Michigan, freezing rain and snow on its way. Happy New Year! Yes, happy new year. Thanks to everyone joining. Tracy Hobart, howdy from Wyoming. Uh Dorte 1410, good late evening from Rodovra, Denmark. Nice. Hey, nice greetings from Cameron, North Carolina. Betsy Sue Altecki, hello from Nebraska. Um, hello from To all of me.
SPEAKER_02:Sure.
SPEAKER_09:Patty Moer. Hello, fellow SPs from New London, Connecticut. Nice. Hi, Patty. Katherine Olson, hello from the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Yay! Hello from Delco, Pennsylvania. Necessary trouble. Hello from Montana. Karen, hello from Northern California. Cherry Blossom and Bless. Hi from Germany. Nice. That's awesome. Love Food Kitchen. This is worth it from Matt's incredible shirt alone.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I can agree with that one.
SPEAKER_05:I agree with that one. Amazing shirt. Those dinos on there?
SPEAKER_09:Oh, yeah. Oh, nice. Very cool. Uh, great to see Matt and Amy back. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Yeah, same to you.
SPEAKER_05:Awesome. Awesome.
SPEAKER_10:I saw somebody say hello from the RPF. Oh God.
SPEAKER_09:Well, if that is actually their location, just let us know. We can get an Uber there pronto for a new live.
SPEAKER_08:I'll go there and get them out.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Awesome. So do you want to intro this um this new piece we have, Claire?
SPEAKER_09:Yes. So let's do the slideshow first.
SPEAKER_05:Oh. There we go. Perfect. Let's see. Slideshow first.
SPEAKER_09:Yep. There we go. Okay. So we have these slides. Um, Amy and Matt and Phil and everybody, feel free to pipe in. But we're a bit this is Life Beyond Scientology, a year in review for the Michael J. Render Aftermath Foundation. And again, we're just going to hit on the key points to summarize what we've been up to this year at the foundation. Areas of opportunity. What was our focus in 2025? Access, partnership, awareness, support, growth. We had addressed each of these items through expansion of programs, services, andor resources, and we'll be going through some specifics. Access, our crisis line. Our crisis line saw an increase in calls when the billboards launched. Of course, this is the uh we now have 15 billboards, correct, Phil?
SPEAKER_07:No, we have 20. 20 billboards.
SPEAKER_09:20 billboards in Los Angeles that have been up since April. And um, this has been a unique um way to reach the people in the C organization that most need to hear our message. So that has been a really good program. Responders are available 24-7 to provide support. Call 888-3002 from the US, and that that is a 24-7 crisis line that connects with um through a company that then connects to people very knowledgeable in um what conversations you need to have with anyone contemplating getting out.
SPEAKER_05:So we know the billboards are working because we're hearing from C org members and staff members that they're seeing the billboards.
SPEAKER_09:Yes, exactly, for sure. Partnership uh law enforcement reporting. We have uh we have the capacity through our website for people to file anonymous anonymous reports of criminal or unethical actions within Scientology. This was created in partnership with law enforcement Your Voice Matters. We also have a dedicated crisis line specifically for law enforcement's use. Again, this was requested by multiple agencies we work with and have collaborated with and continue to collaborate with and educate on the unique elements of life in Scientology and what they need to be aware of to understand what's going on. All right, uh, the billboards launched in the US in early April, launched in London in late April, helped double website engagement for 2025. And here are some sample images. Uh, we had the curious ones with the amazing quote from our beloved dear friend, rest in peace, Mr. Michael J. Rinder. Uh, the difference between a religion and a cult is what happens when you try to leave. There's no better way that's than that sums it up to me than that. Uh next. Yes. Support. So uh this year we launched an online support group for former Scientologists. Um, the first two are facilitated by uh Rachel Bernstein, who has been in the cult recovery um uh domain for like 30 approximately 30 years now.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and she also is very knowledgeable in Scientology, and she's also worked with a lot of uh scient ex-scientologists on recovery. Um so that's she's I mean, that's a key thing. When people are gonna go to therapy and they the person that's gonna do the work with them is knowledgeable in Scientology because otherwise you end up basically having through the therapy having to teach them about Scientology. Right. And that takes a lot longer than just going to somebody who already knows all about the RPF and the C org and the disconnection and all of that sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_09:Yes, for sure. And so um switching to an online support group format made it um gave us the capacity to create a safe space where more people could um participate and engage. Um and so this is one of um we've received uh uh and some amazing feedback and testimonials. This is one of them. Being part of this support group has been a turning point in my healing. It's given me the courage to face painful truths and the strength to believe in a healthier future. I'm deep deeply grateful for this space and for the people who make it feel like hope has a home again. Um, and again, the first group began in July. We added a second group in November, which is on a different completely different time zone. Um, so it's UK EU time zone friendly. Um and uh we are super excited to introduce that Jeff Beaumont has been um has taken on our role of mental health coordinator. Um and we are I think we have Jeff with us now to talk with us for a few minutes.
SPEAKER_05:Oh perfect. Okay. Yes, here we go. Let's see.
SPEAKER_09:Hi, Jeff.
SPEAKER_05:Hi. Yeah, I'm way down here.
SPEAKER_09:Well, we can take the slides off for a minute.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, yeah? Okay, let's see if we can um let me go back to here. Sorry, Jeff.
SPEAKER_09:We've been in vacation mode and we're there we go. Let's do it. It's all right. Anyway, Jeff, we're so grateful to you for for taking on this role. Um it's been I know I know it's you kind of jumped right in in the midst of uh us ramping up the support group. Um anyway, whatever you'd like to share in terms of your work so far and what's coming up for 2026, go for it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, for sure. Uh, you know, it's been very I I'm very grateful to get the opportunity to work directly with people who have left um to help them understand what's going on, what's what might happen, as well as give them some tools in their toolbox to move forward. And I think the important thing that uh this group does is to normalize the procedure and the experience of leaving Scientology. Uh everyone's unique, of course, everyone has their own challenges, but there are definitely things that will happen with pretty much everybody who has been abused with Scientology, and this gives me the opportunity to do that directly with something that I have a very close uh part of my heart uh attached to. You know, it's one thing to work with people who have dealt with other life experiences, but it's I'm just so grateful to have the opportunity to work with people directly.
SPEAKER_09:Amazing, yes.
SPEAKER_07:Um we're grateful to have you on.
SPEAKER_09:It's really we are, we really are.
SPEAKER_07:You've you've jumped right in and you've you've taken the reins on it, which has really been appreciated.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. I'm enjoying myself. I think the uh the important thing for people to recognize is that the take uh in my experience with people who have left, taking that initial step to really reach out and ask for help, not something Scientologists are very good at.
SPEAKER_05:That's exactly what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_03:Because there's there's there's the big help button there. And so sometimes it takes a little bit to say, hey, I'm here to help, I'm here to help, I'm here to help. Um, but taking that step is obviously up to everyone individually. Um and it's happening and it it means a lot.
SPEAKER_09:Yes. Awesome. No, you're absolutely right. And it's it's bizarre if you think about it in retrospect that even the concept of exchange in Scientology actually prevents somebody from asking for help in many cases because they feel that it's a bad thing to ask for help or they're out exchange, which is of course 100% a Scientological concept that we're trying to eliminate and remove because we're here to help for no other reason than it's that help is needed, needs to be given, and um nothing brings, at least from my perspective, greater joy than being able to offer somebody tools and resources and options for that new life outside of Scientology that we all dreamed of.
SPEAKER_10:Like, and that's non-judgmental, which is something completely foreign in Scientology. It's all judgmental. And if you have any sort of case or dramatization, you're considered bad, you know. And so when you walk out of Scientology, you're broken. I just gotta say, you're broken. And one of the biggest healings for Matt and I, we travel all over the country connecting up with people and just sharing our stories, you know, and writing our books and just like getting it out. And it's like 20 years later. I love that this facility, this this you know, is here for people so they don't have to, you know, go at it alone completely. And that's one of the things that keeps me inspired about doing this work as well.
SPEAKER_07:Yes. Yours was the first book I bought when I was on my way out of Scientology, and Mark's book was the second. The Red and Bowl. Love them both. Awesome. Definitely made a difference to my world.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:That's amazing. That's true. That I didn't even think about that. He was leaving, and then he needed to find out what was what was doing up there and uh get the real scoop.
SPEAKER_09:Right? Yes, exactly. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Jeff, for your work. It's it's just absolutely amazing to have you a part of the team. Um, we're super grateful, and we're really, really excited for what 2026 will bring.
SPEAKER_05:Nice. Do we want to keep Jeff in here when we do the rest of the slides? Or is that it?
SPEAKER_09:It's up to you, Jeff. Would you like to stay on for a bit longer? I know we didn't we didn't commit to really, we didn't have a like a rigid agenda. So it's totally up to you if you'd like to stay on for a bit.
SPEAKER_03:I'm free. Okay, awesome.
SPEAKER_09:Perfect. All right. Um, there we go. So we'll keep going here. So yeah, the support group is amazing. And this year in July, we brought on Phil Jones as our new executive director. Bruce Heinz retired. Phil, it's been absolutely fabulous to have you as a part of the team. Thank you for agreeing to take on this role. Yes, no, absolutely. Um, let's see. So, team and volunteers, um, we have we cover six continents, 32 countries. Our current volunteer list is 1,966. We have crisis line responders, urgent assistance. So, meaning we have just people on call to help for immediate crisis type situations, mental health coordinators and peer support, operations, career and education counselors. Our education grant program is one that saw very specific growth in 2025. Phil, I don't know if you want to talk about what we're contemplating for 2026 in terms of potentially expanding that program to look into vocational training opportunities that would really, really be helpful. But anyway, if if anyone out there has just briefly, um
SPEAKER_07:Um we've got we've had our uh education program, a grant program in place, and it's been very, very popular. Um, and typically it's people that want to learn a skill, and and the whole thing about getting a skill and having an education uh is to become self-sufficient. People coming out of Scientology, especially if they've been on staff or in the C organization, may not have a uh skill that's uh that could be applied to you know a job in getting out. So the education grant allows people to get to get a skill and learn something that they can actually use to uh to get a career going and become self-sufficient after you know leaving Scientology.
SPEAKER_09:Yes, definitely. And also we have some amazing resources to assist with navigating um even just something as simple or as basic, I should say, like basic educational uh building block, if you will, of getting a GED. We have a number of people we've helped get through that to then further their um skills from there. But you know, even just getting that basic step. We have some amazing people we work with who are experts in adult education and have been very, very um helpful in facilitating a number of people, grant recipients in just getting through those steps.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, and Scientology is not big on public education. So a lot of times Scientologists may not even have finished high school, let alone going to college and getting some kind of skill or a vocational school. We're gonna steer the next one into more vocational type trades and stuff so that you know people can have something uh that they can apply pretty quick, uh a lot quicker than going to a you know four or five, six-year program in university or something. But uh so it's it's definitely something we're gonna be we're implementing over this next year.
SPEAKER_09:Yep. Awesome. All right, we're ready. Okay, testimonials. Here are some recent testimonials, and for anyone interested in following, um we have been encouraging people to subscribe to the Aftermath Foundation YouTube channel. We've been putting up testimonial videos, um, testimonial Tuesdays. Um, we agreed unanimously that um it just made more sense to keep these anonymous so that there is zero pressure on grant recipients to feel that there's any kind of requirement to speak out. Because when someone's just getting out of Scientology, the focus has to be on them um being safe, getting on their feet, and taking those next steps. And speaking out against Scientology is such a very personal decision that we just didn't want any um you know We didn't want them to feel like there was an obligation. Exactly. Yes. All right, so the Aftermath Foundation is the reason I'm not homeless. The help I received was tremendously life-saving. And another one, the foundation staff are friendly and helpful, and without the support of the foundation, I would not be alive today. Um without the support of the Michael J. Render Aftermath Foundation, I would not have been able to pursue my education and improve my living conditions. All amazing um testimonials, and we're just super grateful to those who entrust us really in that very important step of getting out of Scientology and um prov and the opportunity to provide resources and guidance in those very first moments is incredible. Nice. All right, supporting the foundation, a word from Jeff Levin. Jeff Levin has helped keep the flag flying and supported the foundation in a variety of ways. This includes providing the music that you hear in our testimonial Tuesday reels. Before we play a video that he made for our fundraiser, we want to thank Jeff for his support, encouragement, and generosity. So, Amy and Matt and Jeff and Phil, this is gonna be a surprise for you. But we have a short video to play from Jeff with some um items he's donated for this fundraiser, and we'll talk more about that in a bit too. All right, so we're good to play Jeff's video first.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, here we go. Let's see. Get ready. I'm gonna add uh Jeff into this since we he joined late. Oh here he is. There we go. Okay, you have to do the play.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, yeah, okay, gotcha. It's Claire's video. And to be clear, this is a different Jeff than Jeff Beaumont. Yes. Not me. Yeah, there we go.
SPEAKER_03:I spell my name correctly.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Jeff Levin here, and I'm a big supporter of the Micrender Aftermath Foundation.
SPEAKER_01:So please donate. I'm donating certain perks, a signed CD for my band People, a signed CD from Celestial Navigations, and a signed DVD, an advanced copy of my documentary that is broken, which I will send out about two weeks before the film is actually out. And one more thing. Any subject, any style. So if you donate big, you'll be able to sing along. So please support the FNAF foundation.
SPEAKER_02:So you can stand to open your eyes and see.
SPEAKER_08:Nice. Wow.
SPEAKER_07:He's so incredibly talented.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, amazes me. Yeah, Jeff also did does all the music for the Blum Forget channel as well.
SPEAKER_09:Yes.
SPEAKER_05:Just in case somebody's wondering where we got all our music. Um okay, what do we are? I thought there was another video we were gonna show.
SPEAKER_09:Yes. So let's go back to normal screen for a minute.
SPEAKER_05:This Claire's got all kinds of things.
SPEAKER_09:We're trying to keep it entertaining and summing up and everything. Um, yeah, so Jeff um, as he referenced in his video, um, has been working for a long time on the Brothers Broken documentary, um, which as you saw from the clip there, Mike Rinder participated in. Um, and so we have a short trailer for the documentary that we would like to share with you today. And we will also link to this in the video description. Um, amazing work. Um, thank you so much, Jeff, for all the work that you've done this past year to help the foundation, to help us at Blown for Good, and um, you know, to get this message out. I think Brothers Broken, it's fair to say, highlights the absolute abusive and evil practice of disconnection. Um, and so, as such, it's uh very close to my heart in terms of the abuses of Scientology that I would love to see removed and shut down and stopped altogether within my life. And, you know, many of us are impacted by disconnection. I we still hold out hope for our family. Um anyway, with that, we'll play the Brothers Broken documentary. Is this something I need to play, or are you gonna do it? Well, no, you yeah. Oh no, that's the that's the other video. Yeah. Okay. This is all you. Okay, I got it. I got it. I'm on it. Just give me a minute here. Uh where'd it go? Oh, yes, okay. I remember now. We're good.
SPEAKER_05:I was just setting it up.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:You want me to remove this other one?
SPEAKER_09:Yes, please. Okay. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:Okay, hold on. Here we go. Share screen. There we go. There we go. We're good. Share screen. Can you see it? I hope. Is this working?
SPEAKER_05:I I I you're doing it, so.
SPEAKER_09:Okay, let me play.
SPEAKER_05:Do I need to do this one? Here we go. There we go.
SPEAKER_09:There we go.
SPEAKER_10:Yay.
SPEAKER_00:People! Once again, gentlemen, if I may, could we introduce you individually and then we'll do a little talk?
SPEAKER_03:Okay, Jeff.
SPEAKER_00:Jeff? Denny, Denny in the back. Gene, Jean over here, Bobby, Bobby?
SPEAKER_01:I love you, was just starting to break on the radio in 1968. And then we found out about Scientology. We became devoted members instantly. I decided I wasn't gonna be involved anymore. I just felt that I was gonna lose my brother. He was probably gonna get kicked out, and then I would not be able to talk to him again if I wanted to stay in Scientology.
SPEAKER_10:That world has nothing to do with reality.
SPEAKER_05:Do you know what'll happen with the kids and everybody else you know eventually? It's hotter than getting out of a physical prison.
unknown:I love you. I love you.
SPEAKER_01:I'm not gonna ever see you again before you die.
SPEAKER_02:And I don't know what to say.
unknown:I love you.
SPEAKER_05:Nice.
SPEAKER_09:There we go.
SPEAKER_05:Awesome.
SPEAKER_09:Awesome, yes.
SPEAKER_05:We're gonna put a link. Is there what what do we put in? Are we gonna be able to show where it's gonna play or whatever? We'll share it.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, and we'll also uh we'll find out from Jeff Loven when the release date is and share that on the community page and promote that um on all platforms. But yes, amazing work and a powerful story.
SPEAKER_10:So yes, and further expose of the disgustingness of disconnection. Completely. I think I think if there's one thing that would bring Scientology down, it's this whole thing on breaking up families. We still have broken up family, you still have broken up family. I mean, it it is something that just you can't let go of until you obliterate that stupid, disgusting human right violation that they perpetuate on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah. Uh Scientology would love to completely undermine the concept of unconditional love, but we have unconditional love for our family, no matter what. Um and they cannot destroy that and they cannot destroy the hope that we hold on to to one day reconnect and the same hope for everybody.
SPEAKER_05:So yeah, I wanted to I wanted to put this up from Clara.
SPEAKER_09:The documentary will hopefully release in April 2026. The first person who donates$150 or more and emails me proof of donation with a sign will receive a signed advanced copy of the documentary. Boom.
SPEAKER_02:Very cool.
SPEAKER_09:Amazing, super grateful to Jeff for that. So, yes, and again, it's just it's important work and we're committed to it. And you know, sometimes it can be exhausting and hard and everything else, but we're we're just gonna keep doing it. So there you go. If if nothing else, we're very good at persisting.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I'll love perfect. Can't pretend I'm not saying that bone for good didn't make a reappearance for Christmas. We were out of the country, folks, so there wasn't really any way for us to do that. So sorry about that.
SPEAKER_09:Beard for good. I know, just noticed that. Beard for good. Yeah, yeah. Beard for good. No, Claire, Claire is not Claire is not team beard for good, folks. I hate to break it to you. Yeah. Uh yeah, no. I mean, I uh if he chooses to, I support that, but it's not something I'm ever gonna be pushing for. All right, okay, so yeah, now we can go back to our slides here. Oh, really? Yes, we can. Thanks for managing all of our stuff here, honey.
SPEAKER_06:This one.
SPEAKER_09:This one. There you go. Holy made it, folks. We're a little out of practice. Okay. So thank you again, Jeff, for supporting this found this um fundraiser and for all the work that you do. Okay, we can go on to the next one. Okay, today's donation perks. Email Clara at the aftermath foundation.org with proof of donation, first come, first served, limited amounts available. We have custom song made by Jeff Levin that will he has offered to write for you, which is amazing. People CD signed by the entire band, Celestial Navigation CD signed by Jeff Levin, Brothers Broken DVD, advanced copy signed by producer Jeff Levin, people CD signed by producer Jeff Levin, and we also have 10 copies of um Mike Rinder's A Billion Years, which was the special memorial service edition. Um, and then last but not least, care package of Aftermath Foundation March, SP bracelet, book, etc., to the highest donor of the day. So again, to anyone tuning in, any support for the work that we do is incredibly meaningful to us. Um because the Aftermath Foundation participates in the combined federal campaign program, which is um one of the most rigorously screened workplace giving programs in the US for current and retired federal employees. We've gone through many, many steps to um really work on how we operate as a nonprofit in terms of transparency, organization structure, and so forth. Um, and essentially we've learned um the intimate details of how a nonprofit is measured, which is by their administrative and fundraising um ratio. So, in other words, any donations we receive, whatever portion of that goes to our programs um in a given year, establishes our effectiveness as a nonprofit foundation. And our AFR rate has been between 5 and 18%, which means that the rest of the funds raised go towards our programs. Uh, we operate on a very low overhead, so it's something that we work really hard towards and is really meaningful to us.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, none of the board members take any salary or payment for being part of the uh foundation as one of the directors.
SPEAKER_09:Exactly. We are all volunteers. Uh Catherine Olsen, I will give a photography print of your choice to the next person who donates$200. Wow!
SPEAKER_07:Oh, and she's really good. She also in case people don't know, she's an amazing photographer.
SPEAKER_09:Look at this. This is all Catherine's work. Look at this. Amazing, beautiful. Thank you, Catherine. That is uh awesome. All right, hopefully that doesn't fall down. Okay, all right, we're good. We can keep going on the slides now.
SPEAKER_05:Okay. There we go.
SPEAKER_09:There we go. Okay, awesome. And again, any any support helps. We're just grateful for that. All right, did you know 2025 aid requests? Um out of 10, every so this is um graded on every 10, not that we receive because we received far more than 10, but nine out of 10 um requests were for financial aid, three out of ten were for career counseling, five out of ten requested peer support. It just kind of gives you a ratio and a sense of um the the aid that aid requests that come in, and we've done a lot of work to streamline our processes and um anyway with Phil's help, we've we've got some really good organization steps in place to support this.
SPEAKER_05:Some some people just need a little bit to get on their feet and then they're good to go.
SPEAKER_09:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:But then some people want to get um vocational training or career counseling or you know, talk to other people about their experience or what happened and what what should they do? Like what how do they go forward from this?
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:So it's a good kind of you get a good feel of it. Yeah, Phil.
SPEAKER_07:And that's the nice thing with about having a team that covers it all crisis counselors, peer support, um, career counseling. I mean, it's just pretty much we've got everything covered at this point, which is really good.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and the career counseling is actually a lot of these guys end up getting jobs and being able to do stuff, which is it's kind of amazing if you've been in the Sea Org for 10 years and you don't think you're ever going to be able to get a job, and then you know, two, three, four months later, you've got a full-time job and you're working somewhere and you're making a living and you're able to support yourself, and that's kind of a that's kind of a miracle, actually, if you think about it.
SPEAKER_09:It is, yeah. It is. I know, you know, somebody asked me recently, they're like, Don't you think that um offering these things covers for Scientology? I'm like, covers for Scientology? No, absolutely not. Like, these are human lives, these people need our help, and it only highlights the abuses of Scientology that these programs are even needed and necessary. Sorry, what were you gonna say?
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_09:I I didn't mean to cut you off. I was just reacting it all.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, the then the number of times, unfortunately, and it's devastatingly sad, but the the it's more often than you would think that the people reaching out are literally like in their car homeless, having been cut off from their family, and to see them now, like, you know, a year later, two years later, and seeing them grow and continue and participate in the support group and all these programs, you know, the the community, as you mentioned, Amy, the community is so, so important. Um, that, you know, like sharing our our using our voices, sharing our stories, offering that support, we know what people are going through when they get out of Scientology.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and a lot of these people, they're getting out, they like you said, they're getting cut off from their family. So that would be like their main lifeline.
SPEAKER_06:Right.
SPEAKER_05:But then they're getting cut off from all their friends, which would be this maybe the second or even the first lifeline in some people. They're getting all those things are getting cut out right off the bat. So they have to they have to connect with somebody. And the one thing to anybody out there that's in Scientology that's watching this, there are more ex-scientologists than there are Scientologists. Right. So all those people they that you saw that got declared, or they got disconnected, or they got kicked out of science, those guys are all over the place trying to help the people that are still in. Yeah. So you've got to you'll be if you had a friend that you lost while in Scientology, chances are You're going to be able to reconnect with that person. And also, very possibly they may be willing or originate helping you as well because they know exactly what you're going through.
SPEAKER_09:Right. We had an instance recently of somebody that was an active extraction where they had actually they knew of other staff that were disaffected and struggling and you know becoming disenchanted, shall we say. And they told them right before we extracted them, oh, I reached out to the Aftermath Foundation, they're getting me out of here. And then boom, she was gone. It's pretty, it's pretty amazing. But also, too, it's very, very intentional on the part of Scientology. Those, those, those control mechanisms that they wield over somebody, like you said, the first line of family, they've cut that off. The second line of friends, they've cut that off. Even more so, that's why um the programs we offer are so so important.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, and sometimes even a public Scientologist might have been working for a Scientologist in a Scientology community for most of their career. And once they get kicked out, that's it, that's over. The business, it's not just friends and family, business contacts as well, they can lose. So um that's true.
SPEAKER_05:Some people then as well. You're right. I didn't even think about that.
SPEAKER_07:Some nothing. Well, that's what happened to us. Basically, we got cut off from everything, including business contacts. So it took us and there was no aftermath then. So it took us a year or two to kind of fortunately. I had a couple of friends that I uh that had never been in and and that I knew, and you know, I was able to, you know, have an offer, and that's how we ended up going to Las Vegas after Florida. But a lot of people may not have those resources and uh end up needing some help uh getting out.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, if you're working for a Scientology business and you get declared a suppressive, you're gonna lose your job. That's exactly how that works.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, you're literally starting your life from square zero. You lose, especially if you were born in. And if that's all you knew, uh it's literally starting from zero as an adult, which yeah as a regular person who moves out of a out of out of a city is difficult, but imagine everything gone.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, family, business, friends, everything just zeroed out overnight.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, like you were you were 32, I was 30. We had zero resume, zero, you know, resources. We had literally twenty dollars and the clothes on our backs.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, the it's also particularly hard for C org members or staff members that worked in a Scientology organization or a C organization where they were doing Scientology-specific functions. Those a lot of times, those don't translate well to the real world at all. You were basically a paper pusher or a a busy work worker and especially admin work. Yeah, like filing and you know, and writing reports on people and filing reports.
SPEAKER_07:It's like paper reports. Yeah, not on a computer, yeah, paper report.
SPEAKER_05:That's true, scientists. Yeah, Scientology is really behind the times in terms of technology. And like I remember when we worked at Golden Era Productions, if you knew Photoshop or you knew like a software that was uh, you know, like a common software in the real world, that was a rare thing in the Seorg. And only because the some people at Golden Era Productions needed that software to do their job, they needed to know how to use that. Those guys did, but generally all the other staff were computer illiterate, email illiterate, like they just didn't know any of that stuff.
SPEAKER_10:Totally. Let me say, like, okay, when I after I left, I never touched a computer that wasn't their internal system in their in the C organization. So I get out and I need to get a laptop. So I like look through the newspaper and find and find an ad that says somebody has a used laptop. And we drove like 40 miles to this person's house, picked up the laptop, came home. I could not figure out how to even turn it on. So I look in the newspaper and find a technician and hire that person to come.
SPEAKER_06:Oh man, I would have done it for 80.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I would have I would have given you guys a friends and family discount and done it for 75.
SPEAKER_10:My brother is a senior, has been for like 20 years a senior computer scientist for NASA, right? I would call him with all these questions, and it was just way over my head. But yeah, like lit when you come into the I was 42. Okay. I never drove. I didn't go have a I I didn't have I didn't even go to high school, so I didn't have a diploma, you know, I had no bank account, I didn't know how to cook, right? He knows and so yeah, we're just like it's it feels like you're you know landing on Mars or something and starting brand new. But anyway, it's yeah, anyway, it uh it is definitely hard.
SPEAKER_05:I I think um apostate Alex is in the comments because I see somebody put a comment up here. It says, at Alex, indeed, I excel in garbage surveillance.
SPEAKER_07:Oh my gosh. OSA experience. Yeah, special affairs in Scientology.
SPEAKER_05:I have dug through over 400 people's garbage over the years. Here you go.
SPEAKER_09:I found another one from Apostate Alex. Thanks for joining us, Alex. Or an OSA heavyweight off special affairs. What experience do you have? Uh well, I harassed ex-scientologists online and went through their trash. It's just crazy.
SPEAKER_05:Not these do not these do not uh trans transfer.
SPEAKER_07:No, they don't, and you can get creative, you can get creative on some stuff on for your resume. Sure.
SPEAKER_10:And go, you know, but all the things you can do with the toothbrush.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Some of those don't translate very well.
SPEAKER_03:Detail oriented resume.
SPEAKER_07:Detail oriented, yeah. Detail oriented. I know, but that is I've got to say though, uh, one of our career counselors is very good at that of taking those experiences and translating them so that they fit into a current resume.
SPEAKER_09:Yes.
SPEAKER_07:I've seen some of them. Amazing how well she does with that.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah. And that that has always been a focus from the very first time someone reached out to us who was a career counselor and suggested this program. And we were like, oh yeah, no, absolutely. It was when we released the story of Serge Oblensky documentary, and we were talking about Serge and that he was looking for a job and so forth. Anyhow, it just really made us realize, well, yeah, there is there is so much the need for identifying transferable skills. Because we can laugh about, you know, the knowledge reports and all that, but but but and yet many, many people who have lived that life are incredibly resilient survivors that just need a little helping hand to get them on a path to living a fulfilling and successful life.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I remember when I first got a job at a production company in Los Angeles after we left, and um there was a bit that we were finishing a whole bunch of different movies and uh TV shows uh for the Hallmark channel, and um we had to meet a deadline, and the guy was like, you know, I don't really want to, you know, ask you this, but we've got to get this done. Is it possible at all? I know I'm I'm and I'm don't I'm not I'm not forcing you to do this, but you can you stay late two hours tonight to get some code?
SPEAKER_06:I'm literally like that that this has all been leading up to an actual I mean dude, I'll stay here till midnight if you need me to. Come on. Two hours late.
SPEAKER_09:Oh my gosh. Yeah, no. Uh and I remember too when that when you were being interviewed for that job in the first place, you talking about they're like, so how do you deal with stress? Well, yeah, we're good. We got it covered. Uh you know, it's not really a path I'd recommend necessarily. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_06:What kind of stress are you talking about? I've got many many forms of stress that I've endured.
SPEAKER_09:Oh dear. Okay, well, we can go let's let's finish up our slideshow here because we're we're keeping on a schedule. Oh, before but sorry, before we go back to this, um, on the Aftermath Foundation YouTube channel today, and and we'll talk about this later in the slides too, is the premiere of John Christensen's documentary Pain to Promise, which is an amazing piece of work. We're so grateful.
SPEAKER_05:And that's gonna we're gonna redirect to that at the end of this.
SPEAKER_09:But it's premiering so for so right now it's 3 50 mountain time. That will be premiering on the Aftermath Foundation YouTube channel at 4 30. So in 40 minutes. There you go.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_09:All right, did you know 2025 aid requests in 2025? We received more than double the amount of aid requests we'd received in 2024. So yes. There you go. Um, there you go. Donations and fundraising. Oh, okay. John can pop in for a few minutes if we'd like him to, if we have time. We saw some amazing growth in 2020, thanks to your support, which keeps the mission moving forward. 40 we now have 42 recurring donors, 44% increase in number of donations, 550% increase in funds raised compared to 2024, and more than 175 incredible supporters. Together, we are real rebuilding lives and restoring hope. Thank you so much for supporting the work of the Michael J. Rinder Aftermath Foundation.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Bravo. Yay! Looks like um we got Jackson in the comments here.
SPEAKER_09:Oh, Jackson says, professionally skilled at recovering Wayward employees. Didn't look good on my first resume. Right, exactly. I know, I know. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_06:Hunting people. I'm very good at hunting people.
SPEAKER_09:Oh, you literally cannot make this up. It's just crazy. All right. Um, okay, newsletters. Stay up to date. In November, we started sending out monthly newsletters detailing new projects, program updates, and helpful resources. You can sign up to receive our newsletters by email. And there's a link to do that on the foundation website. Our team also publishes a PDF version to our newsletter archive, which is also accessible on the website. So you can stay up to date on what's going on. Join us for a documentary premiere from Pain to Promise, a documentary by John C. Christensen. Uh, this is made um and it highlights the work of the Michael J. Render Aftermath Foundation. Thank you to John and all those who assisted with this amazing production. So, yes, um, and do we have more slides or is that it?
SPEAKER_05:I didn't make this.
SPEAKER_09:I know.
SPEAKER_05:There you go.
SPEAKER_09:Okay. Uh 2026 visioning. As 2025 comes to an end, we are eagerly looking forward to 2026. We're looking to expand direct assistance to those leaving, um, strengthen long-term recovery pathways, increase sustainable fundraising, expand education, awareness, and outreach, outreach. And finally, we are excited to announce our upcoming event, Comedy for a Cause, which will be held on March 11th, 2026. Just a poke in the eye, two days prior to Mr. O. Ron Hubbard's birthday.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, getting our steps.
SPEAKER_09:Getting our steps. Yes.
SPEAKER_05:D for your birthday. And we're gonna be there, right?
SPEAKER_09:Yes, we absolutely will. So this is a save the date announcement. We will be um putting out more details. We will have tickets um for sale online coming up shortly. Uh, thank you to Clara and Catherine and everyone, the whole team at the Aftermath Foundation, um uh for the work to pull this together. Um, but we're it's gonna be quite an quite an evening with um an online silent auction fundraiser, uh, some amazing attendees and everything else. So there we go. Cool, super exciting.
SPEAKER_05:That is the last slide.
SPEAKER_09:Oh, okay, great. So do we have do we have five?
SPEAKER_10:Oh, go ahead. Sorry, let's go back to the other format. I was just gonna say, someone asked if Mark is gonna perform the comedy.
SPEAKER_02:No, I saw that comedy.
SPEAKER_09:No, no, Mark, Mark would be great. I do agree. I might I might have to see if I can pay him to MC the event or something because he would be very amusing.
SPEAKER_06:Oh boy.
SPEAKER_09:But uh Mark's work schedule has been very, very challenging. So I'm really trying not to put a huge burden on him by added added engagements, but he he will be there. That we know.
SPEAKER_05:I will be there that day. I might not be here the day before or the day after, but I will be here that day.
SPEAKER_09:Yes, indeed. Okay, all right. Well, with that, we can I I I suggest, I mean, I really appreciate John's suggestion to jump in. I think we should just run through a few last comments and then wrap up for today. So we keep keep this to an hour.
SPEAKER_05:Okay. Um, but also thing But how are we gonna redirect to the thing if it starts a half hour from now?
SPEAKER_09:Oh, yeah, that's a good question.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, so we'll just read some comments. And if anybody needs to duck out, because they've got other things, then you can duck out.
SPEAKER_09:Jeff, would you would you do you want to stay on or you want to duck out? You it's totally fine either way.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I like hanging out with you guys. Oh, yay. We're good. We're good. Perfect.
SPEAKER_09:Oh, we did that one.
SPEAKER_06:Okay. I'm doing the ones that are still.
SPEAKER_09:And Phil, if you want to send John the link, he we could pop in and have him just talk about it for a minute. Then sure. Okay. Yeah. All right. Um, hugs to everyone here with family still in. Yes, absolutely agreed completely. Uh so I married an ex-scientologist. So nice to see a foundation where the donations go directly to do so much good. Thank you for all the volunteer hours that make that happen. Yes, thank you so much. It's very, very important work. What sold me was when the Aftermath Foundation was accepted for the combined federal campaign. That's a significant, serious accomplishment. Yep, I absolutely agree. Uh, took a good amount of paperwork to make that happen.
SPEAKER_03:Good thing you're just so good at it from being on on post, you know, all that paperwork.
SPEAKER_09:Well, I mean, my uh so I you know, my day job is accounting. Uh accountants are very good at doing paperwork. Mark can agree to that. Any paperwork that needs to be done, I'm the gal for the job.
SPEAKER_06:I haven't filled out paperwork in 15 years, probably.
SPEAKER_09:But yeah, and actually, actually, that's it's relevant. Um, I just realized to connect the dots on this and even to lead into John's documentary. John um is the one, John Christensen is the one who recommended to us right after we helped Catherine escape that we join the Combined Federal campaign. I had never heard of it prior to that. And it took um, like I said, a good amount of work to figure out, you know, just get get our ducks in a row and um get to where we had everything we needed. And even so, this this is our third year of participation in that program. But after our first year, uh Office of Special Affairs filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get our application and uh which again just goes to show well that's what that's what I'm getting at. Okay. Um thankfully CFC, the combined federal campaign, immediately alerted to us us to this, and they said, look, by law we have to give it to them, but you can redact any identifying details because it is extensive. I mean, you have to provide a huge amount of information of exactly what you do, your programs, documentation of that, and so forth. Um, so then I was the one that again went through the 40 pages of paperwork and redacted all identifying uh details. And yeah, they got that, but it was very thoroughly redacted.
SPEAKER_07:Nice, good job.
SPEAKER_09:Yes. All right, Clara says, Oh, yeah, go ahead. What were you gonna say?
SPEAKER_07:I did send John the uh link, so if you want to keep an eye out for him.
SPEAKER_09:Perfect. Clara says lots of big donations. I can't star them in StreamYard. Wow, currently at$1,594 raised. Bravo, amazing. Thank you so much for the support, everybody. We really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, unfortunately, I don't know why, but StreamYard is not allowing us to to star those or to showing up as a donation. So it doesn't show us in the StreamYard uh uh thing. So StreamYard's really set up for comments, it's not really set up for the donation. So sooner or later we'll uh they'll figure that out and we'll next time we do one of these, we might be able to do it.
SPEAKER_09:Oh yes look at it all right, sorry, give me a second here. Uh Helen, I want to come to the comedy show, quickening out to Colorado. Yes, thank you, Helen. Helen is a volunteer board member for the Aftermath Foundation. Um, so yes, that would be amazing, Helen. We would really love to see you guys.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Oh, this is a great question.
SPEAKER_09:Uh love it. Off-topic question. How hard was it, is it to learn to not constantly push yourself after you leave Scientology?
SPEAKER_05:You have to push yourself to not work when you leave. This is true, right? At least for a Sea Org member, a former Sea Org member, you have to push yourself to like really uh try to be a nine-to-fiver because you'll still be a nine to eighter, but if you at least try to pretend to be a nine to fiver, then you only work until like you know seven or eight at night, not right, you know what I'm saying? What about you guys, Matt and Amy?
SPEAKER_09:And and Jeff, and Jeff and Phil? Well, I was never in the C organization.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, sorry, go go first, Matt, because then we can do those guys because they weren't in the Sea Org.
SPEAKER_08:Yeah. I mean, uh, I was working in the shop every night until like 12 o'clock at night. And if I if I took a break for lunch or something like that, and I started watching like UFC or something, yeah, they would go, Don't you have something better you can do? You know, it was so weird.
SPEAKER_10:I was like, I mean, the television on in the middle of the afternoon.
SPEAKER_08:I said, Hey, you know, in the real world out here, people get a 30-minute lunch break, you know, just like what?
SPEAKER_09:How about you, Jeff?
SPEAKER_03:Uh, you know, it's funny. Uh there are so many thought-stopping cliches in Scientology, and one of them that everyone will know is uh production is the basis of morale. Yes. So that sets you up beautifully to just sit around and relax, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so I I I think that's a really important one for people to recognize when they're leaving, is that you have to locate these little bits of information that are taught to you and just go shit. Does that oh excuse my language, but does that actually is that true? Uh and then reevaluate what you would reevaluate your values based on that. Um, for me, I got rid of that fairly quickly, but I do know that I uh when I was working for people out in the you know regular world after leaving, I would go beyond where. Would normally reasonably be expected to go for those companies or whatever. Um, so I think in my experience with people who have left, that's super common to not know when and when like when and where it's okay to say no and like just protect your own time and have respect for yourself. Totally.
SPEAKER_09:Completely setting boundaries is not a skill that is taught in Scientology.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, in the truth. No boundaries. In the job that I was working, if you worked during the day, during the work hours, you were a rock star. People were on Facebook and shop, Amazon, and you know, social media. They were while working. And the fact that I just was working the whole time was set me at the top of the pile in terms of the productive people there. And I was sort of like, holy moly, this is like it's literally opposite day in the real world compared. And in Scientology, you're working, but but also you're not working on anything that means anything. It's busy work. So if you just work on real work from nine to five, then everybody's happy with you. And if you do more than that, then yeah, you're definitely a rock star.
SPEAKER_03:For sure. But I'm curious though, Mark.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Sorry, did you get uh um feedback from your coworkers about how hard you're working and how bad you're making them look?
SPEAKER_05:Well, to be honest, I was the job that I did, I was sort of like the boss of about 20 people that were working for me. And um, and they had just they were artists, so they were doing post-production like visual effects type work, composites and um and that sort of thing. And they had never been told that they had to do a certain amount each day. So they basically just come in and just piddle around and maybe get a shot done, maybe don't get a shot done. And as soon as I showed up, I was like, no, you gotta do at least three shots a day. And they're like, What? I only have ever been uh, you know, I said, well, listen, let's start at two, but I you get we want to work up to three shots a day and maybe try to work on the shots during the day, not you know, Amazon and Facebook. So I was sort of kind of a hard ass at first, but also I was trying not to be to be like to integrate, but to me it was amazing. And you know, by the end of that job, I was playing Call of Duty with them during the day on the network there. So, you know, I kind of we kind of met in the middle.
SPEAKER_06:Okay. Yeah. But that's healthy.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, but uh but um but yeah, no, it was sort of um uh 100%. I was do probably working the most out of anybody in my department um day one that I started. But um, but yeah, and it was easy to it was easy to do a job once I got a job, um, it was easy to do it and you know be do what was expected of me. But um and it was still, you know, unfortunately, it was in LA. So even though I'm only working, you know, nine to six or whatever, there's you know, three hours of travel in there too. So it's like, you know, you you're putting in a full day no matter what. But um it looks like we got um here, I'll do one more question, and then I think we've got John in here and he can tell us a little bit about um the video we're gonna about to play.
SPEAKER_09:Awesome. Okay, question. Of those that have been helped, how many still struggle? Has anyone left the program? Not trying to be negative, just curious. Yeah, no, absolutely. Um we have and again, this is where we've followed up with peer support and just like check-ins, you know. So rather than like, oh, one and done type of approach, you know, the online support group, the education grants, those are intended to really expand to follow through on the well-being of the person when leaving. But yeah, no, we haven't had we haven't had anyone that, you know, it's like peace out.
SPEAKER_05:I'm out of here.
SPEAKER_09:No, for sure not. But there there are definitely that we have many, many successes of people that now are doing great, and we just check in periodically and so forth.
SPEAKER_05:And that was also a key thing, is just having some people. There's we have volunteers that will just call up somebody and say, hey, it's blah blah blah from the aftermath. I just wanted to make sure you're still doing okay and do you need anything. And just checking with them six months from now or 12 months, just see like, hey, is everything good? Are you is yeah, how's it going? And from a lot of those people, we do hear success stories.
SPEAKER_09:For sure. In fact, in fact, Jeff, maybe you want to talk for a minute about that the initiative that you thought of for the support group participants uh during the holidays, which for many of us is a really hard time of the year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, for sure. Uh so it actually wasn't necessarily just my idea. It was uh it was born out of the group itself. This online support group has been so powerful for people. Um there it's grown actually almost too big at this point. So we are gonna have to look at adding some more dates. But yes, um it basically the idea is that peer support is probably the most valuable thing you can do uh to have someone who has been through what you've been through to connect with you. So through what we did is we sent out a little email saying who who wants to be involved in being there for someone who might have some questions or things to work through. Um, and then we just basically connect them up. Um, it's not an official aftermath program, it's just a a way of allowing someone who they relate to now that they've gotten to know each other in a safe space in this online sport group to just connect and and just chat and just go through things. Um it's it's really been uh well received from people, and uh I think it's one of the more important ways to normalize what people what things uh people are going through.
SPEAKER_09:Absolutely, it's amazing. And thank you again for your efforts to make that come together because yeah, I think it's an idea that we'd batted around a few different times, but actually making it happen is is huge.
SPEAKER_03:So it's resource intense intensive a little bit.
SPEAKER_09:Yes, there you go, exactly. All right, with that, we will bring in John C. Christensen uh to talk about the upcoming premiere of the document of his documentary. Welcome, John.
SPEAKER_06:Hey, John.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, you're muted sound.
SPEAKER_09:We're good. We got this.
SPEAKER_04:My first question immediately. I said, hi everyone, can you hear me?
SPEAKER_05:We can now.
SPEAKER_09:Yes.
SPEAKER_05:Thanks. Thanks for joining us, John. Thanks for having me. So do you want to tell us a little about a little bit about the video that's about to premiere in uh 13 or 23 minutes?
SPEAKER_04:Yes, uh, it's it's hopefully fairly universal, but it's meant its target audience is really meant to be um current C org members or current Scientologists who are considering leaving and but they don't know how, or they're afraid to, or they don't know that there are resources. And it was uh you know inspired by the presence of the Aftermath Foundation because uh when Catherine got out.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, there's Catherine's there's Catherine's hand. Hey Catherine!
SPEAKER_09:She's not camera ready, only her hand is no, no, no, okay, it's alright, it's all good, no worries.
SPEAKER_04:Everything else is fine, but it's right now it's just the flash. But um, so when when she was when Catherine was considering getting out, and I uh I just asked, well, I looked for places. I looked for places that would help with something like this and uh the aftermath foundation, then simply the aftermath foundation, not the Michael J. Rinder Aftermath Foundation at the time, uh, was the first thing that appeared. And looked at it, and she was resistant as hell to that because she knew you were all of you were horrible cannibalistic criminals. And so, but I I said Especially Mark, he eats babies. Well, I said Mark eats bacon. I do eat bacon. He's a cracker liquor, and that's documented. In this documentary. Oh Mark Bacon. He eats bacon. Oh, yeah. Perfect. Yeah, we have we have it recorded that you said that. Uh-huh. Yeah. Now nobody's gonna believe that, but that's okay. So anyway, it was uh, but you know, to convince her that she was not she was not going to fall into the hands of horrible drug dealers and um, you know, genocidal psychiatrists or something like that. Um she finally did call the Aftermath Foundation. Or she well, she finally did call and she spoke to uh Mark Headley. And speaking to him, speaking to a person and making a connection with a person instead of an abstraction is what it just changed her her outlook uh in the course of one phone call. So thank you, Mark.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. It's funny that um I remember that when um and I think we might have talked about this before in Catherine's uh escape story on the uh aftermath channel and just on videos when we've had Catherine on our channel. But um she uh didn't want to tell me where um who she was. She just wanted to have a conversation. And um and so with the limited amount of information I knew about her, um, I narrowed it down to exactly who she was, and then I just kind of this is when we were just talking via text. And then I sort of um oddly enough, just for some reason I just guessed where she was, and I thought maybe she'd be in one of these two places, and she was in the first place that I guessed. And then when I guessed, um, hey, is your mom this person? And then and it was like, yeah, just call me. Uh why why why are you playing around with me? I know exactly who you are. And um, but it was very funny that that's sort of how it started. Like, oh, I'm not gonna tell you who I am, I'm gonna be very cagey. And then within a few texts, I'm just like, hey, I know you're this person, and this is your mom, and this is where you are. So just pick up the phone, just call me. Come on, let's just talk about it.
SPEAKER_04:Cagey, from my end, to a comical extent. Yes.
SPEAKER_09:Which is a very cagey person. No, it's not you, Catherine. That's just the nature of the beast, and we all completely understand that. We've been there, we've done that, we've walked in those shoes, and that's where you know we offer nothing but love and acceptance and support.
SPEAKER_04:So I'm patting her on the skull.
SPEAKER_09:Yes, no, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:She put her she installed her skull so I can pat her on the head. Yeah, that and that's that's that's important because it's like I under even I understood that at the time. I'm going, no, okay, I understand why she's being this way, but it still the reality was all right, you're gonna have to tell them something about you. You're gonna have to, you're gonna have to invest uh some morsel of trust. Otherwise, this just isn't gonna happen. It's simple cause and effect. Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Well, let's have, let's see. Do you guys want to answer some questions um for people in the comments? We've got a few more minutes left before we uh switch over to uh this video. So I think if we just uh here we go, let's see. There we go. We're not covering anybody up with that.
SPEAKER_09:All right. I always wondered if the position you all held in Scientology stops people from contact in the aftermath. Well, my answer to that is definitely not. Uh I mean, you've written a book, we filed a lawsuit, like we were we've been out now for almost 21 years. So, you know, a Scientology has comp continued their abusive practices. You know, obviously the reason I testified as an expert witness in the Danny Masterson trial was because of my knowledge and exposure to what they did. Um, but if anything, uh we are steadfast whistleblowers, advocates for victims and everything else. And the work we've consistently done in the last 21 years proves that and proves that we are trustworthy in the work that we do through the foundation.
SPEAKER_05:Aaron Powell Yeah. And I would say for most of the people that were that are here today, um, that are on the board of the aftermath, that were in the C organization, most of us were all at one place, the international headquarters. So there are a lot of um public Scientologists and uh Scientologists of various organizations would not necessarily know who we were or know our names. So it's not very that I mean I think that's the question the person's asking. I always wondered if the positions you held in COS stops people from contacting the aftermath. Yeah, so not a lot of these people know us as Scientologists, but a lot of these people may very well know us as whistleblowers and people that have that have exposed Scientology. So I think that's more helpful to them to know that this is not because that is another that is another factor is Scientology and um their OSA operatives. That could be people that are C org members, staff members, or public members, paying members of Scientology, can all be activated to be spies and to kind of try to trap somebody into talking about what they're planning to do, and then that way they can prevent them from doing it. So that that that C org members or staff members or even public Scientologists would be cagey, it's because they're aware of how Scientology operates and that any one of these things could be a trap. So the fact that the Aftermath Foundation does have people that were not Scientologists on the board, it has people that were staff members uh working for the foundation and volunteers, and having some experienced C org members kind of legitimizes that we will be able to know their situation and be able to help them kind of transition to the world world. And also that most of us have made that transition to the real world and be have become productive and successful in our own right. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Besides the Scientology thing. Just we we're doing, we're we're we're supporting ourselves. We're we're doing okay.
SPEAKER_09:Yep, absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:Awesome.
SPEAKER_09:For sure.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, let's see what this one says here. I mean there's no more starred one.
SPEAKER_09:So Love the positivity and hope here. Practical support makes all the difference for traumatized people who need to rebuild. 100%. We have all we all have personal conviction about the accuracy of that statement. Yeah, this is a great question because this is Does Scientology members ever try to call you up and fool you for information? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and we also have a very um I wouldn't I wouldn't call it uh stringent, but uh it's a good sort of uh application system where in for them to tell the story, they for uh for them to um re request aid or to to try to get the aftermath to help them in some way, um they have to give us enough information where we can kind of vet it and make sure that this is a legit thing.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:And we'll cross-check. We do have a lot of um either Scientologists or ex-scientologists in many locations that we can kind of cross-check uh information with to see if this person is uh is who they say they are, and that they're also in the position that they say they are. Which Scientology would be would be mortified if they knew how many people that we kind of have that we can just call up and say, hey, this person did this, is that a a thing? And they're like, Oh yeah, I know who that is.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, you know, and so yeah, our connections run very, very deep. Um yeah, awesome.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, here's somebody who wants to have a sneaky.
SPEAKER_10:John is raising his hand. Oh, go ahead, John. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I wasn't sure if there was a device on here for that or not. Oh yeah. You're when you were talking about it, it reminded me. I Catherine authorized me to uh share this anecdote. Uh a couple of years ago, we decided that we were going to call one of the orgs. Uh orgs, right? Uh one of the one the one where she worked in Columbus. Yeah, definitely. And and um and try I tried to return her. Oh, say I've got this person, I need to give them back. She wasn't that happy the last time I saw her, and and so then she went into Scientology, and she uh now she's all happy, and she's it's just getting, I can't take this anymore. Now, uh they surely you must have some kind of return policy just to see what they would do, and they didn't do much, but yeah, they kept putting me on hold, and yeah, they're trying to like, what do we do with this?
SPEAKER_05:We've never had somebody try to come back in here.
SPEAKER_07:I had I had a call from St. Hill in the UK, and I recorded it, and one of the shocking things that the guy basically was saying was that disconnection, those all those thousands of people, that's collateral damage in their effort to clear the planet. Uh I I had that on recording, I made a video with it, but it's uh it's it's pretty sad that that came from a Sea Org member at uh St. Hill in the UK. That's unbelievable. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:I had a I had a Scientologist one time ask me, um uh she happened to see a box of Mark's books. She was coming to buy a couch, and she was like, Oh, what's that book? I'm like, Oh, it's just a book my husband wrote, and she was like, Oh, and and mind you, I had no idea this person was a Scientologist. And she's like, Oh, well, what book is it? And I said, Um, it's called Blown for Good behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology. And she she kind of stopped and she went bug-eyed, and she was like, I'm a Scientologist. And I was like, Oh, okay, good for you. Well, do you want the couch? And then she and then and then she was like, uh, well, what about you? And I was like, I I was in the Sea Org, I worked in Religious Technology Center. She was like, Are you one of those people who are falsely declared? I'm like, I don't think so. I don't think so at all. You know, we have a lawsuit right now because of the abusive uh human trafficking practices of Scientology. And she was like, Oh, and she left like in about 30 seconds, and I never heard from her again. I'm like, yeah, no, is that the story they're telling you that we people are falsely declared? And again, it's to try to get people back because using our voice was clearly having an impact and still is.
SPEAKER_04:I want to see. I was hoping you were gonna tell me that you tell us that you had started along a conversion, not a conversion, but uh a pullback.
SPEAKER_05:Oh no, we we that no, they're their Scientologists are indoctrinated enough that if they know that they're having business dealings with an SP, that's gonna, the word's gonna get out, they're gonna get in trouble. So they need to just cut that off right as soon as they can. But the best one was I was once called um on a cell phone. So I didn't have my the cell phone number that I have now. I didn't have that when I was in Scientology. So I got called by was it the Inglewood mission, I think it was, or the It was the Inglewood Org Renovations Project. Yeah, I got called to to come. In and help with renovations at the Inglewood organization.
SPEAKER_09:Ideal org program. Mind you, we were living in Colorado by now.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it was insane. But um, but then I I I kind of made like I was just like, oh man, cool. Who's this? You know, da-da-da-da. And then then when they told me, I was like, dude, that's so amazing. You guys must have a really cool um software program for tracking down people because I don't think I ever had this um I don't think I ever filled out any paperwork with this cell phone number. And then the guy who was calling proceeded to tell me that they pay for this super, super expensive software program that's integrated into their central files. And it's basically like if you go on the internet and you go People Finder or something like that, and it can go through a database that's the public information's database of all your anything that hits the the interwebs. Um, their software program just constantly scrapes the internet for anybody that they have in their system, and then it updates it with new addresses, new cell phone numbers, new um property records, anything. And that's how they got my cell phone number. And then when he was telling me this, I was like, that's how they can never you can never get out of their system because as long as your name is in their system, then they can get everything else. They can get your mailing address, so they can send you junk mail or call you up when they need money or you know, all these different things. But um, but when he told me that, I was like, I don't think anybody knows that they have this software program, and that's how they're doing this.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07:I I wondered that because when we moved to Canada within the first couple of months that I had a new Canadian phone number. I had a call from the Toronto Org, and somebody saying, um, because we were crit, you know, they they felt we were critical of Scientology, and I was accused of being. I'll explain what this means after, but PDH'd by a psychiatrist, and that's why I was critical of psych of Scientology. So Hubbard did this, wrote this thing called PDH, it's pain drugs of hypnosis, where supposedly a psychiatrist puts you under, gives you drugs, and convinces you to be critical of Scientology. And that is what I was accused of. And I and I said, Well, look, I've never been to a psychiatrist. He says, Well, what about your dentist? That's exactly what he said. What about your dentist?
SPEAKER_05:While you were under getting a cavity, they also did the little tinkering around in there to make you speak out against Scientology.
SPEAKER_07:Otherwise, why would you otherwise why would you be critical of Scientology?
SPEAKER_04:Did you notice any extra long hooks or anything? Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:Oh gosh. Yeah, no, I've heard that before.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. You know, the funny thing about that is that if you read any of these uh books or early history on L. Ron Hubbard, he was clearly involved with some of that stuff. Um he was very, very into hypnosis. He did a ton of drugs, and um, and he was into all sorts of occult stuff and uh magic and all Alistair Crawley stuff. So it's funny that he would accuse people of doing that, something that he had done, and he he knows how it works.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, meanwhile, those of us born into Scientology in the C organization, we're like, bro, I've never even taken an Advil. Like, back it off. You think you think I have pain drug sypnosis in my system? Hell no.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. How would you know though? How would you know? No, that's a good point right there.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, he once he's yeah, once he hit yeah, once he hypno uh did the hypnosis on you, he told you to forget about the hypnosis, so you never knew about it. That's right.
SPEAKER_03:The forgetter implant.
SPEAKER_09:Yep, exactly.
SPEAKER_05:Completely crazy, crazy, crazy.
SPEAKER_09:We're down to the last five minutes here. John, is there anything else you would like to mention as an introduction to your amazing documentary?
SPEAKER_08:Uh I don't think so. Okay.
SPEAKER_09:Awesome. Well, we appreciate your work. Um, to everyone here at the stream, we'll redirect. Uh, thank you to everyone tuning in. Thank you to everyone who supports the work that we do here at the foundation. We're all tremendously grateful for the work that we get to do that um, you know, just helps people every day.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it is good worthwhile when we do hear about, we hear from people, and then when we check in with them six months or, you know, 12 months or whatever it is, and we find out that they're doing great now, and they don't, and the and the reason we haven't heard from them is because they're supporting themselves and they're doing great, and they're all they're in new endeavors. And so that is um, you know, that's a very worthwhile uh feeling to get uh that we're actually we are helping some of these people and we're filling a void that there's not really any one place that somebody can go to to get all of these different services and assistance for a specific group of people, which uh you guys you wouldn't you wouldn't think it's that many people, but if it's fifty people a year or a hundred people a year that we can help, that's a hundred people that otherwise very might end up homeless or they, you know, they try to end things a different way, and it's basically, you know, it's though it's a hundred people, uh whatever it is. It's uh even if it's one person, it's one person that's doing great now that they weren't gonna be doing great.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah. And with and with the support group, as Jeff was saying, we've been build just making really good strides on building a huge community of people that is also helping us get the word out. Because when someone gets out of Scientology, whether they've heard of us and reach out directly or they hear through a friend or a family member, which happens often as happened with you, John. So yep, there you go. Awesome.
SPEAKER_05:Well, thank you everybody for joining us.
SPEAKER_09:Thank you, Phil. Thank you, John. Thank you, John to everyone. Happy New Year! Happy New Year's New Year! Absolutely, happy new year.
SPEAKER_05:Thank you, guys. See you until next time.
SPEAKER_08:Okay, adios.
SPEAKER_05:Thanks for watching. If you'd like to help support the channel, feel free to check out the merch store link in the description. We have Hale Zenu. Xenu is my homeboy and BFG branded mouse pads, shirts, mugs, all sorts of other stuff in there that helps us to bring you new content on a regular basis. You can also pick up a copy of my book, Blown for Good Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology in hardback, Kindle, and Audible versions as well. There's also a link to our podcast, and you can get that on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you'd like to watch another video, you can click on this link right here, or you can click on this one here, or you can click on the subscribe button right here. Thanks a lot, until next time.
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