Working Together to Destigmatize Mental Illness

The Story of TMI Project & Denise Ranaghan of the Mental Health Association of Ulster County’s 5-Year Partnership

TMI Project’s work is all about getting people to divulge their deepest secrets. So it should be no surprise that neither Sari Botton, TMI Project’s editorial director, or I have a propensity for small talk. In fact, we both find networking torturous. Yet, at one particular women’s schmooze-fest in the early days of TMI Project we went around the room introducing ourselves and discovered that we were sitting across from Denise Ranaghan, Director of Wellness Services at the Mental Health Association of Ulster County (MHA). We hit it off immediately. When she heard about what we do–we use memoir writing and true storytelling to raise awareness about and amplify the voices of populations who often go unheard– and we heard about her passion for destigmatizing mental illness, we knew that we were destined to partner.

Flash forward 5 years later. Since 2012, with Denise’s support and partnership, twice a year TMI Project has offered 10-week memoir writing and true storytelling workshops specially tailored to meet the needs of MHA’s population of adults with mental illness. Our partnership with this peer-based organization, where a portion of the staff are people who have recovered from or accommodated for mental illness, is designed to destigmatize mental illness while empowering participants to work toward their recovery. In 2016, a documentary about this partnership entitled Vicarious Resilience was shot by North Guild Films and will be released later this year. The documentary follows eight participants as they went through our workshop, from the first session, where many expressed doubts and trepidation, to the final storytelling performance before an audience of over 100, and a final follow-up session where participants voiced the ways in which they experienced positive transformation.

Denise has been with TMI Project every step of the way. Not only has she been our liaison to MHA, she’s sat in on nearly every workshop we’ve taught there and joined us in outside workshops to offer therapeutic support.

Ellen Pendagar, CEO of MHA, has said repeatedly that the partnership with TMI Project has been the organization’s best stigma-busting program to date, an accomplishment we would not have been able to achieve without Denise’s passion and dedication. She empowers her clients by giving them a platform to tell their own stories. She is wholeheartedly committed to ensuring that those who live with mental illness are able to do so with pride and dignity. And for that, we are honored to recognize Denise Ranaghan with a Voices in Action Agent of Change Award.

TMI Project is honoring Denise, along with activist Tony Porter and three other Hudson Valley leaders and change-makers, on September 28th, 2017 at Voices in Action: Community Outreach Showcase & Fundraiser. We hope you will join us!

With gratitude,

Eva Tenuto

Why We’re Honoring Tony Porter at Voices in Action

Sometime in 2014, I stumbled across Tony Porter’s 2010 TED Talk (founder of A Call to Men). I was immediately drawn in by his ability to share what we at TMI Project call the TMI parts of his story, the parts most people usually leave out because of shame and embarrassment. I knew he understood how powerful storytelling could be for social justice movement building when he concluded the talk by saying, “My liberation as a man is tied to your liberation as a woman.” I also knew I wanted to work with him someday. What I didn’t know was that day was not so far off in the future.

In 2015, Tony presented at Ulster County Community College for Domestic Violence Awareness Day. I sat in the front row. Across the aisle was Coach Jeramie Collins from Kingston High School who brought a few of his football players to listen to Tony talk about the cultural expectations of masculinity. I watched Tony transform the room and inspire the boys and men in attendance to want to live fuller lives, to access their authentic selves, and speak up in the face of violence against women. I was impressed by the way he worked the room and how engaged the men were by the end of the presentation. What, I wondered, would they all do differently when they went home? How would they know how to alter behaviors so ingrained in them? It occurred to me that presenting TMI Project’s methodology to interested boys and men after Tony provided context and inspiration could be very powerful. Over the next year, Tony and brainstormed ways we might work together with high school football players and document the process.

In 2016, TMI Project partnered with A Call to Men, Stockade Works, and the Kingston High School Football Team under the guidance of  Coach Jeramie Collins to create a documentary. The football players, after working with Mr. Porter to learn about “The Man Box,” would participate in a TMI Project memoir writing and storytelling workshop to confront a hyper-masculine culture and redefine what it means to be men. That fall, Tony presented to the varsity and junior varsity football teams. They were engaged and participated willingly. However, when it came time to sign up for the writing workshop, not one student raised their hand. The hyper-masculine culture we were working to confront head-on led to our first challenge: the students could not admit, in front of one another, that they had any desire to write about their experiences.

Over the next few weeks Coach Collins worked to engage the students privately, and five young men stepped forward to participate. Of the five, two students named Zac and Gabe completed the workshop. In the spring of 2017, the pair presented their stories to all of the players. As we had hoped, peer influence worked and eight more students signed on for the next TMI Project workshop. In June 2017, Tony revisited Kingston High School to meet with all of the students who committed to complete the writing workshop and launch the new series. Every student there said they signed up because they were inspired by hearing Zac and Gabe share their stories and they wanted to lead by example, too.  We are eager to capture the experiences of these brave young men and put their stories into the world, and inspire an infinite number of their peers to step outside “The Man Box” and redefine what it means to be a man.

Tony has been working passionately and diligently to get good men to speak up in the face of violence against women for decades. His vision? A world where all boys and men are loving and respectful and all girls and women are valued and safe. We’re so honored to be able to recognize his work in transforming the cultural expectations of masculinity. Considering the state of the country and the world, I can’t think of anything more important.

TMI Project is honoring Tony Porter along with four local Hudson Valley leaders and change-makers on September 28th, 2017 at Voices in Action: Community Outreach Showcase & Fundraiser. We hope you will join us!

With gratitude,
Eva Tenuto

TMI teams up with Longreads

Longreads, founded in 2009, is dedicated to helping people find and share the best storytelling in the world. They feature nonfiction and fiction over 1,500 words, and many of the stories come from their community’s recommendations. In an exclusive collaboration with TMI Project, Longreads will occasionally publish selected stories from TMI Project participants. Check out the latest edition by Vietnam veteran Ray Cocks entitled “From a Hawk to a Dove,” edited by Sari Botton.

Join TMI Project & Cronin Gallery for #HVGives Day | May 17th

TMI Project is thrilled to join nonprofits across the Hudson Valley to participate in Hudson Valley Gives, our region’s second annual Day of Giving, to be held Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Fueled by the power of social media, Hudson Valley Gives united nonprofits in a call to action to raise critical funds we need to make our communities better places to live, work, play and serve.

We are working in partnership with Cronin Contemporary on a truly unique #HVGives Day Campaign that will include live-streaming of artist Ryan Cronin painting a mural in NewPaltz. We’ll also be featuring five TMI Project Storytellers who will be sharing their stories via Facebook Live from 11am-3pm.

Cronin Contemporary, at Water Street Market, is pleased to announce their new initiative, 12 Months of Giving, to support the work of Go Doc Go and TMI Project, two separate local not-for-profits with a common mission to be agents of change.

Go Doc Go (GDG) is a global women’s health care initiative based in the Hudson Valley that establishes and maintains cervical cancer screening programs around the globe. GDG’s founder, Dr. Maggie Carpenter, and her team have successfully established five programs in Ethiopia, Senegal and Haiti since 2014.

TMI Project offers transformative memoir workshops and performances that invite storytellers and audience members to explore new perspectives. TMI Project envisions a world where true storytelling is an agent of change; where, through the sharing of radically candid, true, personal narratives, everyone—storytellers and listeners alike—can become empowered, release shame and stigma, and replace old understandings with new ones. They aim to incite social, legal, and political change by arming activists with the skills needed to be captivating storytellers, and by amplifying the voices of populations whose stories often go unheard.

Artist Ryan Cronin, of Cronin Contemporary, has established this 12 Months of Giving Campaign as a charitable arm of his gallery, to give back to community causes close to his heart.  Each year, different charities will  be chosen to be beneficiaries of the gallery’s fundraising campaigns. “Giving is a cornerstone of our programming and we don’t want our outreach to be a one-off. We are committing to both projects over the next twelve months to be their champions,” said Cronin. “We are invested in doing business in a different way, one that is not just about our profitability, but in a way that supports other organizations who are working toward the greater good. We also want to partner with organizations that are headed-up by people we believe in. We have watched both programs grow from the early stages and have witnessed their drive, passion, and commitment. Their dedication is nothing less than contagious.”

12 Months of Giving will officially kick off on May 17th, as part of Hudson Valley Gives, a 24-hour online fundraiser with HUNDREDS of nonprofit participants in seven Hudson Valley counties. #HVGives is a day of giving fueled by passion, collaboration and the power of social media, spear-headed by the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. From 12:01 am to 11:59 pm on May 17, our audience will be able to experience live streaming of the artist painting a mural on Schatzi’s Pub in New Paltz, live readings from TMI Project’s storytellers and founders, and a feed from Go Doc Go who will be on the ground working in Senegal. “Our audience will be able to be in the moment with us,” said Cronin, “We want to use the platform to immerse our audience in our process and to give them insight into why we do what we do. #HVGives is a digital telethon experience. It is an easy way to bring out the champion in each of us because we all have the potential to be agents of change when we stand alongside one another.”

For more information about 12 Months of Giving, visit

https://www.cronincontemporary.com

For more information about Go Doc Go, visit https://www.GoDocGo.org

Black Stories Matter

BY EVA TENUTO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TMI PROJECT

Yesterday, on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, TMI Project participated in an amazing initiative, Writers Resist. “Writers Resist is a national network of writers driven to defend the ideals of a free, just and compassionate democratic society.”  Events took place all over the nation and in countries around the world. The local event that we participated in was held at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock NY. The house was packed all afternoon. Every writer/reader/performer brought something important to the stage. The day left us feeling connected, and in turn, hopeful.

After our set was over, I was asked if my story/announcement was anywhere in print. It is here below.

If you would like to hear Tameka Ramsey’s story, please join us at Black Stories Matter, in Kingston NY at 7:30 pm on Saturday, March 25th. Location TBD. Save the date. Details to follow.

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TMI Project is a non profit organization offering transformative memoir writing workshops and performances. We believe that when storytellers divulge the parts of their stories that they usually leave out — the parts they are too ashamed or embarrassed to share, they become agents of change, fostering greater understanding and compassion among people. Our work is intentionally transformational and used to incite social change.

Since 2010, TMI Project has worked with incarcerated teens, teen moms, veterans, international gender activists, adults with mental illness, domestic violence survivors and many other populations who don’t often have a chance to tell their stories or be heard. TMI Project’s work has impacted the lives of the more than 1,400 people who have participated in our workshops and more than 12,000 people who have listened to our stories.

Now, as an organization, TMI Project is addressing the issue of racism in America.

We started talking about how our organization could respond to this issue in 2012 after Trayvon Martin was brutally murdered at 17 years old. We had many brainstorming sessions with one of our board members, Tameka Ramsey, about how we could participate in the solution. But our organization was young and we didn’t yet have the capacity and it got put on the back burner, again and again.

Then Eric Garner was killed. Then Michael Brown was killed. Then 12 year old Tamir Rice was killed while playing on the playground. Have you ever seen pictures of Tamir Rice? I have and he resembles my nephew, Miles, the child who stole my heart the second he was born.

A few weeks after Tamir was senselessly murdered by Cleveland police officers, I was taking my then nine-year-old nephew Miles and his friend John to one of those horrible bouncy parks in the mall. Like Tamir, Miles is an adorable brown boy with sweet brown eyes and irresistible cheeks. His friend John is equally cute with blond hair and blue eyes and about a head shorter than Miles. Miles is tall for his age.

In the car ride over, they talked seriously about Pokémon, speaking a language I couldn’t understand, and snacking on fist fulls of Cheez-Its. When we arrived, they had to be reminded to be aware of parking lot traffic, as they carelessly bounded out of the car. They entered the mall in true little-boy spirit, jumping from one colored floor tile to another, trying not to land on any white ones (or in their world, trying not to fall into the red-hot lava). When we passed Citizen’s Bank they thought it was funny to rename it Cheez-It Bank. Both boys pulled up the hoods of their sweatshirts, stuffed their hands in their pockets to look like they were carrying guns, ran up to the bank entrance for a pretend stick-up and yelled, “Give me all your Cheez-Its!” Then they quickly ran away in side splitting hysterics. While watching them dive head first into what should have been a carefree world of make believe, my heart dropped. Tamir was killed while playing with a fake gun on the playground.

Miles and John started to run away. They looked behind to see if I was going to let them go any further. On other outings, I’d often let them walk far ahead, as long as I could see them, so they could feel independent. But on this particular day I stopped them in their tracks.

“Boys, come back.” As they walked toward me, I had my first glimpse at the way the world would soon be receiving Miles as he transitioned from a cute little brown boy to a young strong black teenager. His sweatshirt all of a sudden a hoodie. His existence, no matter how innocent, somehow perceived as a threat. “Listen to me. This is important.” I waited until Miles was looking directly at me. “You can never pretend to be carrying a gun. Ever. A little boy was just killed by a police officer and all he was doing was playing with a fake gun on the playground.” This information was received with the disgust it deserves, the alarm we no longer have because of the frequency with which we hear these stories. But this was their first story. They could not believe their ears. “A police officer killed a kid?” Miles asked. “I thought they were supposed to protect us.”

As kids do, they quickly forgot what I had told them and as soon as we reached the horrible bouncy park, refocused their energy on a game of tag. But I couldn’t let it go. Did I do the right thing? Is there anything I can teach him that will actually protect him?

Be strong. Be quiet. Be submissive to authority. Stand your ground. Don’t ever break the law, not even a little bit. Don’t play that game. Don’t wear that sweatshirt or drive that car or listen to that music.

In the end, none of it matters because black boys aren’t being killed because of their fake guns or sweatshirts. They’re being killed because they’re black. Will there ever be a generation of black children who can grow up in this country and actually experience what it means to be free? Freedom to play, explore, come into oneself, to thrive, to be safe?

After Tamir Rice there was Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, the six women and three men gunned down in their place of workshop in South Carolina, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, among countless others.

Tameka and I met again, with fear for the future and an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. After many conversations, more brainstorming, one Sunday school session and a baptist church service, we partnered with everyone on staff at TMI Project, created a diverse committee and launched Black Stories Matter.

Black Stories Matter is TMI Project’s way to participate as an organization in the national outcry of injustice. #blackstoriesmatter will be a digital campaign, so we can use our platform to expose inequality and injustice rapidly and frequently through true storytelling. It will also be a live event, featuring the stories of 10 writers of color, held on March 25th at 7:30pm in Kingston, NY. We’re still confirming the location but please save the date. We hope you attend and listen. Listen with your child-self, like you are hearing your first story of injustice, and let yourself feel the outrage it deserves. Let the stories call you to action.

White people don’t talk about race because we’re afraid we’ll get unintentionally caught, that we will uncover our own discreet racism by saying the wrong thing, that our blind spots will be pointed out. I think the best thing we can do is welcome the insight, be willing to view our unintentionally racists points of view and then work actively to replace them with informed knowledge, deepened compassion and active commitment to work for justice for all. It’s time to speak up. Take risks. Let go of privilege. Use what’s left to a eradicate racism. Fight for black lives. They matter. They wholeheartedly matter.

Here, to share an excerpt of one of her stories, is Tameka Ramsey, whose leadership has helped bring this initiative to fruition.

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By February 1st our website will be set up to accept story submissions from around the country for our digital campaign. Stay tuned! www.tmiproject.org

This initiative would not be possible without the partnership of Alliance of Families for Justice, Center for Creative Education, Pointe of Praise Church, Hudson Valley Families Against Mass Incarceration and ENJN. If you are interested in partnering or getting involved, please email blackstoriesmatter@tmiproject.org.

TMI Project on PBS

Mental illness often has a stigma associated with it that prevents those who suffer to get the help they need. Jenna Flanagan, from PBS, shows how some people are coping by telling their true stories to live audiences with the help of TMI Project and The Mental Health Association of Ulster County.

This video originally aired on PBS

Click here to watch on PBS