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With One Voice, Inc.
began in 1988, and from its conception, college students solely propelled
the program. The founder and author, Kimberly A. Spencer, began putting the
production together during her college years.
The cast performed throughout Ohio and Missouri for 2 years.
The performers graduated college and began other careers.
For the next 10 years, Kimberly taught music in
grades K-12 and college. She
used her educational experience to develop a more comprehensive program. After seeing a great need for a program that she had
performed in college, she began to reawaken the musical six years into her
teaching career. It was at this
time, a team and cast of professionals' came together to create what is now
a powerful program. The company With
One Voice, Inc. has performed in Ohio, California, Washington D.C., and
Michigan in the last year. The
program has been in constant collaboration with national programs such as
the QPR Institute, the National
Suicide Hotline, Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (SPAN),
National Institute, and other
programs. The cast has also
sung at candlelight vigils presented in memory of loved ones lost to
suicide. Last May the With One Voice, Inc. team attended and performed at the SPAN
conference in Washington D.C. After
hearing about the program from other sources Dr. David Litts, the US Surgeon
General’s special advisor for the prevention of suicide contacted the home
office. Consequently, Dr. David Litts attended a performance and
spoke on behalf of With One Voice,
Inc. The cast performed for
the Michigan Association of
Suicidology Conference in October where their inspirational performance
left the audience with emotional applause and healing tears. Team members have done presentations for survivor groups,
child advocate groups, and professional conferences.
To date, The Suicide Prevention
Center in California, the Michigan
Association of Suicidology, Former Miss Illinois Jade Smalls, and many
national programs, counselors, mental health professionals, educators,
administrators, parents, and students have endorsed the With One Voice, Inc. program. Many programs do not meet our young people in the
place where they are. We, With One Voice, Inc., find it imperative that this program speaks to
our young people in a language that they will hear. Henceforth we felt it
necessary to form a Teen Voice Team
to give insight to our program through their eyes. Students include ages ranging from 14-19.
This dedicated group of young people created their own name and
mission statement for the Teen Voice Board. With One Voice, Inc. will lay a foundation that will encourage growth for the common welfare of individuals who experience this moving program. Three of main functions of With One Voice, Inc. are 1) training and education, 2) awareness and empowerment and 3) to present a powerful presentation that stimulates people to make a positive difference in their lives and others.
With One Voice, Inc.
is a program dedicated to education and fostering awareness in communities
about a killer more deadly than AIDS, murder, or many genetic diseases. (American
Association of Suicidology, 1997).
This killer is suicide, and it claims the lives of more than 30,000
people in the United States each year (AAS 1997).
There are more than 765,000 suicide attempts each year in the U.S.
(AAS 1997) Through music and drama, With One Voice, Inc. aims to educate, empower, and stimulate individuals to take action. Through the dynamic musical production, and intense training, our intent is to create an understanding of suicide, depression, child abuse, drug abuse, eating disorders, rape, and other painful issues.
With One Voice Project Description: With One Voice is an eye-opening hour of engaging music and drama that encases itself in the hearts of each audience member. The message of love and compassion is powerful in this amazing production. This program stimulates a desire for individuals to play an intimate and immediate role in the fight against suicide, child abuse, drug abuse, eating disorders, rape, depression, and other related issues. This program channels that desire and trains audience member to make an effective intervention! The program not only has the capability to reach students, but also touch parents, families, friendships, professionals, and the entire community. The musical uses music and drama as a powerful vehicle to provide understanding and problem solving for kids in a "language they can understand". More importantly, With One Voice, Inc. provides training, information, and exercises for schools, colleges, and youth organizations. The musical is not a stand-alone program, but rather a program that creates a context for education, discussion, and an opportunity to respond to the emotional needs of the audience. It gives permission and encourages individuals to seek help if they are experiencing serious problems that could end with the loss of their life. The U.S. Surgeon General calls suicide the most preventable form of death in the country and has called on communities across the nation to tackle this problem
This project is like no other in the nation. The willingness and combined effort of three strong programs is a crucial tool in the effort to the reduction of suicide. There are three main programs in collaboration with this project. The programs included are With One Voice, Inc., QPR Institute, and The Kristin Brooks Hope Center. Training is done with the following groups:1. faculty...crisis teams and referral assessment 2. community agencies…assessment and evaluation 3. community leaders...gate-keeper training 4. parent groups…awareness projects 5. student groups…awareness and education
TARGET POPULATION AND PERFORMANCE SITES "Suicide cuts across ethnic, economic, social; and age boundaries." (American Association of Suicidology, Annual Conference April 2000)
OBJECTIVES AND AIMS
"This Surgeon General’s Call To Action introduces a blueprint for addressing suicide – Awareness, Intervention, and Methodology, or AIM – an approach derived from the collaborative deliberations of the conference participants. As a framework for suicide prevention, AIM includes 15 key recommendations that were refined from consensus and evidence-based findings presented at the Reno conference. Recognizing that mental and substance abuse disorders confer the greatest risk for suicidal behavior, these recommendations suggest an important approach to preventing suicide and injuries from suicidal behavior by addressing the problems of undetected and undertreated mental and substance abuse disorders in conjunction with other public health approaches." (The Surgeon General's Call To Action to Prevent Suicide 1999) (Our objectives correspond with 9 of the 15 Surgeon Generals recommendations for AIM.) The primary objectives and purpose may include, but is not limited to the following 18 objectives:
To sweep our nation's schools, communities and families with an effective, lasting educational program that will reduce the staggering numbers of suicides in this country.
Program and Activities…before, during and after the musical · Six hour in-service building crisis teams and training on suicidal ideation and child abuse issues · QPR Gatekeeper Training · Posters and promotional material placed in school · Performance · Debriefing · QPR training with students · A resource manual · Two individuals from each community will attend Iris Bolton’s training for the intervention specialist…The Link · Results following the six month evaluations…With One Voice Research Team
Other Collaboration Groups (These groups have had direct and/or indirect contact with the With One Voice program. They will each play some role in the project.)
Local Teacher Organizations
*Telephone numbers are available upon request.
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