#hEALMETOO podcast HOME > Season 2, eps 1 & 2

A Love Thing

Co-sponsored by The Mayor's Office to ENDGBV, The Angel Band Project, The Tank, and recorded for the #HealMeToo Podcast, this event was the first #HealMeToo Festival popup event of 2020, and featured music, monologues & a conversation about ways teens – and we all – can create healthy relationships & prevent harmful ones. Audio Director Delaney Hafener.

If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship abuse, you can find information and resources at nyc.gov/nychope 

Our Program

COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS & INTRODUCTION

Hope Singsen introduced Season 2 of #HealMeToo Podcast, which explores ways survivors & allies can experience ever-healthier relationships and handle harmful ones—starting with A LOVE THING.

SMASH ARTS PRODUCTIONS of JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS HIGH SCHOOL

Teacher and director Elisa De Gregorio presented Melanie & Cameron, performing monologues, respectively, from SKIN by Hope Singsen & Now That We’re Men by Katie Cappiello (creator of Netflix’s Grand Army) (additional direction by Charlotte Arnoux).

VANESSA MARIE & THE ANGEL BAND PROJECT

Singer/songwriter Vanessa Marie performed two original songs, “Love Is Rising” by Vanessa Marie Milanesi & Helga Kaefer, followed by “Wings,” a Song of Survival created with The Angel Band Project, accompanied by musician and Music Therapist Katie Down on guitar and Jessica Luri on flute. The Angel Band Project’s representative Natasha Repass joined Vanessa onstage to speak about the program.

SMASH ARTS PRODUCTIONS

JKO High School’s Emily, Alba and Dalilah read their original works “Riddle Me This,” “See Red,” and “Letter to Mom.”

PANEL DISCUSSION

Hope Singsen lead a conversation with Daniella Love Misyuk & Maisie Breit from the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV), and Cassity Yeye of the Early Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (RAPP) from STEPS to End Family Violence, about their work helping youth and adults learn ways to create healthier relationships and prevent harmful ones. Followed by Audience Q&A.

Topics include:

• What do we even mean when we say healthier relationship? 

• How middle schoolers are learning about affirmative consent, including Planned Parenthood’s consent guideline “FRIES” that consent is Freely Given, Revokable, Informed, Enthusiastic and

• Some great videos teaching consent can be found on amaze.org or on the Amaze YouTube channel.

• What the dynamics of relationship abuse can look like, especially for young folks, including tech abuse and stalking.

• How people can find resources for support, and what are some of the barriers that get in the way--and especially how that can look different for people with different identities and communities.

• Resources for support, how to access them, and how to navigate obstacles that may prevent young folks and people whose identities may not be received equally in accessing support.

• Suggested resources:

  • The NYC Mayor’s Office to ENDGBV runs Family Justice Centers in all 5 boroughs (info in English & Spanish)

  • ENDGBV’s Tip Sheets in English and Spanish for responding when a friend discloses an experience of Intimate Partner Violence

  • loveisrespect.org,

  • Community Healthcare Network

  • STEPS to End Family Violence

  • Audre Lorde Project

  • NYC Anti-Violence Project

  • See additional resources

JOVAN MARTINEZ of Early RAPP

Writer, activist, motivational speaker and Early RAPP community educator, Jovan Martinez, performed her original spoken word piece.

KATIE DOWN & FRIENDS

The Angel Band Project Music Therapist Katie Down led a choral improv with musicians Jessica Luri, Bonita Oliver & Vanessa Marie.

Event Co-Sponsors

#HealMeToo Podcast was launched in the summer of 2019 to share recorded events from the first-ever #HealMeToo Festival, a multi-disciplinary exploration of gendered and sexual violence and how it can be healed. As covered in Ms. Magazine Online, Playbill, and other outlets, for three weeks in spring of 2019, the first-ever #HealMeToo Festival gathered more than 190 intersectional artists and experts at NYC’s West Village IRT Theater to present 30 performances, panels and participatory workshops, with sponsorship from the New York Women’s Foundation and The Art Therapy Project.

The Angel Band Project is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual violence on their path to healing through innovative music therapy programming. Music therapy is the specialized use of music by a credentialed professional with a therapeutic goal in mind. It can help address social, communicative, emotional, physical, cognitive, sensory and spiritual needs. We use the power of music to provide healing, raise awareness and create positive social change for survivors of sexual violence. Learn more at angelbandproject.org.

The NYC Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) develops policies and programs, provides training and prevention education, conducts research and evaluations, performs community outreach, and operates the New York City Family Justice Centers. We collaborate with City agencies and community stakeholders to ensure access to inclusive services for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV). The NYC Family Justice Centers are co‐located multidisciplinary service centers providing vital social services, civil legal, and criminal justice assistance for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence and their children—all under one roof. If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship abuse, you can find information and resources at nyc.gov/nychope. 

The Tank is a non-profit arts presenter and producer. Our mission is to remove economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers and experimenting within their art form, and to do so in an environment that is inclusive and accessible. We serve over 2,000 artists every year in over 800 performances, and work across all disciplines, including theater, comedy, dance, film, music, puppetry, and storytelling. The heart of our services is providing free performance space in our two-stage theater complex Manhattan, and we also offer a suite of other services such as free rehearsal space, promotional support, artist fees, and much more. Learn more at thetanknyc.org.

Bios

Maisie Breit is a Training and Curriculum Specialist for the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) where she develops and implements training curricula on Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Violence, Gender-Based Violence in the LGBTQ+ community, and more. She also represents ENDGBV on a number of inter-agency collaborations focused on preventing sexual violence. Before coming to the Mayor’s Office she headed an international educational institution in Southwest Morocco, where she designed and led social-justice focused programs for university students. Maisie has an MA in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action and a BA in Women and Gender Studies and Middle Eastern Studies. She works part time as a group fitness instructor, teaching HIIT classes in a hot room.

Katie Down (MT-BC, LCAT) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, award-winning sound designer, and licensed creative arts therapist. She works in the realms of theatre, dance, and film and runs Sound Well Center, a private psychotherapy and creative arts therapy practice in New York. Katie is the coordinator and music therapist for the New York chapter of The Angel Band Project, a program that offers free music therapy services for survivors of sexual assault. Learn more at soundwellcenter.com, katiedown.com and angelbandproject.org.

Three musicians will join Katie for the choral improv:
Jessica Lurie - jessicalurie.com
Vanessa Marie - vanessamariesings.com
Bonita Oliver - bonitaoliver.com

Delaney Hafener began recording in her home studio guided by her father in 2013. She attended Purchase College and graduated in 2018 with degrees in both Studio Production and Arts Management. She currently works on her band The Belle Curves and freelances producing podcasts and radio content.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School’s Smash Arts Productions presents five students under the direction of their teacher Elisa De Gregorio. Emily, Alba and Dalilah will perform their original poems and prose works "Riddle Me This," "See Red," and "Letter to Mom," respectively. Melanie will perform a monologue from SKIN by #HealMeToo Podcast & Festival founder, Hope Singsen, and Cameron will perform a monologue from Now That We're Men by Katie Cappiello (creator of the upcoming Netflix series Grand Army) with additional direction by Charlotte Arnoux. 

Vanessa Marie is a singer/songwriter from New Jersey who shares stories of love, loss and redemption with her listeners. Vanessa Marie writes, sings, and performs her music in hopes of uplifting, encouraging and inspiring others while sharing her own stories of how music has helped her overcome her own obstacles. Vanessa Marie has performed at several music venues throughout NYC and the Tri-State area including the legendary Apollo theater, The Bitter End, Starland Ballroom and Rockwood Music Hall, to name a few. She also leads worship at her church. She is currently working on her debut EP to be released later this year. For more information you can visit her website vanessamariesings.com or follow her social media handle @vanessamariemusic.

Jovan Martinez is a writer, poet, spoken word artist , activist and motivational speaker who has been apart of the Relationship Abuse Prevention Program for over 10 years. She seeks to empower youth through music and poetry. Currently she works as an Early RAPP community educator teaching students about Healthy Relationship and Consent Culture.

My name is Daniella Love Misyuk. I was born on May 8th, 2003, in Brooklyn New York. I am a first-generation American, my parents immigrated from Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine in the 90s. I come from a pretty big family; I am the oldest of four, and I have two sets of amazing parents. I am a junior at Baruch College Campus High School. In my school, I’m a member of the student government, the GSA, fencing, Model UN, and am the vice president of a Women’s Rights Club. I’m also a peer facilitator of the ENGBV Youth Leadership Council. I’m a huge history and literature nerd and spend a lot of my free time reading and writing. I enjoy listening to and writing music as well. I am very passionate about being as involved as I can in activism. As a teenager, I feel like many people do not take me seriously. However, I do believe that the youth’s voices need to be heard as well. One day I hope to become an anthropologist or sociologist and grow a deeper understanding of the world around me.

Natasha Repass is a survivor of sexual assault. It was a few years after her experience with rape that she began “Chute to Heal,” a skydiving fundraiser that happens annually on the anniversary of her assault. Both emotionally and mentally, it took a ‘leap’ of faith to move forward from this traumatic experience—and so figuratively and literally she did. In creating this fundraiser, Natasha felt she could “take back” her day—and feel empowered once again. Whilst on her journey towards healing she discovered The Angel Band Project, which seemed a perfect pairing of her experiences and passion for healing through the arts. “Chute to Heals” Fundraiser helped to develop the Angel Bands NYC Music Therapy Program. Natasha continues to serve as a board member and NYC representative of this collaboration.

Hope Singsen is an artist, activist and researcher based in New York City, who has founded NYC’s first #HealMeToo Festival and serves as its Artistic Director, Executive Producer and host of the #HealMeToo Podcast. As an actor, writer and singer-songwriter, Hope has appeared in numerous films and TV shows as well as on the national stage. Select credits include Disney’s College Road Trip (opposite Martin Lawrence), Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the indie feature Collar, and the New York Premiere of José Rivera’s Sonnets for an Old Century at The Barrow Group, where she is a frequently-contributing member. Hope developed her solo play with music, SKIN (www.skintheplay.com), with generous support from The Barrow Group, The Red Fern Theatre, IRT Theater and Theaterlab. She has won Artist Residencies with the Mellon-funded Creative Arts Across Disciplines program at Vassar College, The Catwalk Institute in Catskill, NY, and NYC’s Barrow Group and IRT Theater. She presented SKIN together with a talk on the neuropsychology of performance at the 2018 national conference of the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities. For decades, Hope's work has investigated the mechanisms within creativity that support individual and cultural change. This research was fleshed out through practice in developing SKIN, and continues to expand through professional collaborations investigating neuroplasticity, as well as through encounters with live audiences.

Cassity Yeye, 23 year old born and raised in Brooklyn. A community educator with early RAPP (Relationship Abuse Prevention Program), a program of STEPS to End Family Violence. Currently working on my MSW in Social Work & running a blog, as well as a weekly student support group.