Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings.
—Miles Franklin
We can’t pinpoint one specific moment when this journey began. There were many moments actually— many conversations, many walks, and many beers—which in essence jump-started this mission about which we write. It was on one of our walks, in a community park in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, where it all began. We go back to that park often, especially when we need to talk, reflect, pray, process, or plan. It is a sacred place for us, a place where our sacred mission had its birth. Australian author Miles Franklin understood something profound: We are all created to share, to connect with others, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. We all want and need to be heard, to know that others listen and care. We are in a constant search for validation and for our voices to find resonance with the lives of others. Her statement has intrigued us since the very first time we each read it. We have seen this need again and again visiting people who have been homebound or in hospital rooms, while sitting with someone grieving the death of a loved one, or while comforting those in distress, pain, loneliness, or uncertainty. We have also experienced this need firsthand as we have grappled with our own families’ challenges with cancer, financial pressures, career directions, and disability. We have learned how all of us at times vitally need to be heard. We need someone to listen so our struggles and questions become shared and not ours alone to bear. Loneliness is part of the human condition that confronts and challenges each of us. Isn’t life about the relationships we create, the people we invite into our lives, and those who invite us into theirs? Yet most of our relationships have no significant depth, no intimacy. We are carried through life, and while we connect with others in countless ways, most of those ways are superficial. We barely pierce the surface of our being; we rarely reveal the real issues in our lives. This is why the nonprofit we started, Someone To Tell It To, is so significant. It is a safe place for all of us to express our feelings, with the assurance that we can confidently give voice to all that is on our minds, in our hearts, and on our souls. It is a place where we will not be judged or condemned. Rather, it is a place where we will be given the freedom to share our burdens so we may begin to find relief from them. It is a place where we will be given the encouragement to seek light instead of darkness, forgiveness instead of bitterness, and affirmation instead of criticism and negativity. It is a place where we can find comfort, a means to joy, and a path toward healing and abiding peace. We believe that everyone needs someone to tell it to and that everyone needs grace and a safe place to share. We believe that everyone has a story to tell and a need to be listened to, that everyone is worthy and has something to offer, that everyone hungers for authenticity, that everyone has a need to be who they were created to be, and that everyone is meant to live an abundant life.
