Survivors Unrestrained

04/07/2026

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. 💙

But for survivors… this isn’t just a month.
It’s a lifetime.

It’s memories that don’t fade.
It’s learning how to feel safe in a world that once wasn’t.
It’s carrying things we never should have had to carry… as children.

And right now—while you’re reading this—there are children living it.

Children being taken from their homes.
Children being silenced.
Children being told their pain isn’t real.
Children who are scared, alone, and wondering if anyone will ever believe them.

Some of us used to be those children.

We know what it feels like to have no voice.
To scream and not be heard.
To be labeled instead of loved.
To survive something the world doesn’t want to see.

And that’s why we refuse to be quiet now.

Because awareness is not enough.

If you truly believe in preventing child abuse…
if you truly believe children deserve to be safe…
then please—don’t just scroll past this.

Do something.

Sign our petition.
Stand with us in supporting the Protect the Kids Act.
Be part of the change that could protect a child who doesn’t have anyone else.
https://c.org/TpzMKnhfRZ

Because right now, there are children who need strangers to care.
Who need survivors to speak.
Who need YOU to act.

Listen to survivors.
Believe survivors.
Stand up for the children who don’t have a voice yet.

Not until survivors are heard.
Not until children are protected.

If this moved you, please don’t let it end here:
💙 Share this post
💙 Sign the petition to support the Protect the Kids Act
💙 Learn more at survivorsunrestrained.org
💙 Donate to help us continue supporting survivors mentally, emotionally, and financially

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=AP623T5AJYKAA

Cash App: $survivors24
Venmo: survivors_unrestrained
Zelle: [email protected]

Because this isn’t just about awareness.

It’s about making sure fewer children have to survive what we did.

Pass The Protect Kids Act: Protect Children in Youth Residential Programs

02/09/2026

A HUGE Thank you to Morton Grove Community Church for their extremely generous doantion we received this past week.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your support in advancing our mission and in supporting survivors of Institutional Child Abuse.
We will he able to do great things with your donation and just know it will be put to amazing use.
You had many options to donate to and you chose us and believe in our mission and that truly mean the world to us.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
From all of us at Survivors Unrestrained.
💙💙💙💙💙

02/05/2026

💙 When You Donate to Survivors Unrestrained, Your Money Helps Survivors 💙

We believe transparency matters — especially to survivors and the people who support them.

When you donate to Survivors Unrestrained, your money isn’t sitting in an account. It’s being used to help survivors meet real, immediate needs.

📊 Here’s what 2025 looked like:

➡️ Over $7,000 raised through community support and donations
➡️ More than $5,000 spent directly on survivor support and survivor-centered programs

That means the majority of every dollar donated went straight to survivor, helping with:
🛒 Emergency groceries
🚌 Transportation to safety
🏠 Support for unhoused survivors
💳 Gift cards for food, essentials, and emergencies
🤍 Survivor meetups and community connection

The remaining funds covered only basic operating costs — things like phone service, Zoom, postage, and website hosting — the tools we need to keep showing up for survivors every day.

We are:
✔️ Survivor-led
✔️ Community-funded
✔️ Transparent
✔️ Focused on impact, not overhead

💙 If you’re able to support our work, you can donate here:
👉 https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=AP623T5AJYKAA

Thank you for trusting us.
Thank you for believing survivors.
And thank you for helping make sure no survivor has to face this alone. 💙

Help support Survivors Unrestrained INC by donating or sharing with your friends.

01/28/2026

All of our meetups and events in 2025!! We held survivor in person meetups in Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan in 2025!! Excited to see what 2026 brings. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
We also attended the 2025 WWASP Reunion in Keokuk Iowa at the old Midwest Academy Site.
And we were vendors at multiple events raising awareness.

01/19/2026

📽️ Upcoming Private Screenings of The Kids Are Not Alright

Survivors Unrestrained is hosting two upcoming private Zoom screenings of The Kids Are Not Alright.

These are private, referral-based events created to protect survivors and provide a respectful, safe space for learning and discussion.

SCREENING #1 — Friends, Family, Advocates & Survivors

Saturday, January 24th
🕠 5:30 PM Eastern
🕟 4:30 PM Central
🕞 3:30 PM Mountain
🕝 2:30 PM Pacific

This screening is open to:
✅ Survivors
✅ Friends, family members, and advocates who have been referred by a survivor

Sign-up links:

🔹 Survivors who have not already signed up:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiCu2OA7YjlMYH8ZnYCnAa0-CtWIr3mruft1M_chhW91pI8g/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100807743243580802438

🔹 Friends, family & advocates:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGQT0BcfDOCepiRwdnTKwgwArJSwhy7k6PY2KEQTKlLzI2Hg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100807743243580802438

🗓️ SCREENING #2 — Survivors Only

Friday, January 30th
🕣 8:30 PM Eastern
🕢 7:30 PM Central
🕡 6:30 PM Mountain
🕠 5:30 PM Pacific

This screening is for survivors only.

🎤 Event Format & Important Rules

There will be a brief discussion before the screening, followed by a short Q&A with the director and Liz Ianelli afterward.
Absolutely no recording or screenshots are permitted at any time.
Please remain muted unless called on to speak.
If you would like to speak, use the “Raise Hand” feature in Zoom and a moderator will call on you.

📧 IMPORTANT: Zoom Link & Reminders

Zoom links will be emailed the morning of the event.
⚠️ We will NOT be sending email or text reminders.
The Zoom link email itself is your only reminder.
Please watch your inbox (and spam folder).

These are private, respectful spaces created to educate, bear witness, and support survivors.
Thank you for helping us keep these spaces safe.

💙

12/12/2025

If you’re a parent or guardian of a teenager, this episode is for you. 🫶🏽
Tabatha is striving to be about real reform for the Troubled Teen Industry and she’s doing so at a grassroots level. If you would take a moment of your time to sign the petition on the survivors unrestrained inc bio that would help her effort’s immensely! Thank you! ❤️

12/12/2025

✨ Survivors Only Documentary Screening ✨

We are incredibly honored and excited to offer a private screening of The Kids Are Not Alright — for survivors only.

The Kids Are Not Alright is a powerful feature documentary by Mikaela Shwer that explores what it means to be a survivor. The film follows three families over the course of nine years as they work to shed light on the devastating impacts of the Troubled Teen Industry, pursue healing in the absence of justice, and fight to hold abusers accountable. It is an intimate portrait of trauma and resilience from survivors who have spent decades reclaiming their voices.

📅 First Screening:
December 21, 2025

🕔 5:00 PM Eastern
🕓 4:00 PM Central
🕒 3:00 PM Mountain
🕑 2:00 PM Pacific

This screening will include:
🗣️ A “before” conversation with director Mikaela Shwer
🎬 The screening of The Kids Are Not Alright
💬 An after-screening conversation and short Q&A with Mikaela Shwer and Liz Ianelli

We are also planning to host two additional survivor-only screenings in January, with dates and times to be announced.

👉 Important:
To attend, all survivors must fill out the Google Form below in advance, whether you plan to attend the December 21st screening or one of the January screenings.

📩 Zoom Access:
Once your form is submitted, you will receive the Zoom link no later than 12 hours prior to the screening.

🔗 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiCu2OA7YjlMYH8ZnYCnAa0-CtWIr3mruft1M_chhW91pI8g/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100807743243580802438

This is about community, validation, and being seen.

🖤 For survivors, by survivors.

Please complete this form if you would like to watch The Kids Are Not Alright Documentary with Survivors Unrestrained via Zoom. Zoom Link will be sent our no later than 12 hours prior to the event via email. The First Screening will be December 21st, 2025, at 5pm EST. We will have about a 30 minute....

12/09/2025

📣 Support Survivors Unrestrained Just by Shopping — With Raise Right! 💙

What if you could support Survivors Unrestrained without spending anything extra?

With Raise Right, you can.

Raise Right lets you buy gift cards at face value, and our nonprofit earns a percentage back from every purchase — at no extra cost to you.

How Raise Right Works:

🔹 1. Buy a gift card through Raise Right

Hundreds of brands: Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger, Meijer, gas stations, restaurants, hotels, and more.

🔹 2. Use it like normal

For groceries, gas, bills, shopping, birthdays, holidays — anything you already planned to buy.

🔹 3. Survivors Unrestrained receives a donation

Raise Right gives us a portion of every gift card you purchase.

Example:

If you know you’re going to spend $200 at Walmart, buy a $200 Walmart gift card through Raise Right and use it to pay for your groceries.

✨ You still spend the same $200.
✨ You get everything you were already planning to buy.
✨ We receive funding at no extra cost to you.

💙 What Your Raise Right Purchases Support

Every gift card purchased through Raise Right helps fund:

* Survivor meetups across the U.S.
* Emergency support for survivors in crisis
* Educational and empowerment programs
* Awareness + outreach efforts
* Administrative costs that help us keep operating
* Advocacy work — including pushing to pass the Protect the Kids Act
* All survivor-centered initiatives we run

It’s one of the easiest and most impactful ways to support our mission.

📲 Ready to Start? Use Our Invite Link!

Join RaiseRight here:
👉 https://raiseright.onelink.me/Gei8?af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.raiseright.com%2Fenroll%3FenrollCode%3DJHQHMBA44PSQ&af_xp=custom&pid=invitelink&c=dashboard&deep_link_value=EnrollmentCode%3Fcode%3DJHQHMBA44PSQ&af_dp=swsapp%3A%2F%2FEnrollmentCode%3Fcode%3DJHQHMBA44PSQ

Enrollment Code: JHQHMBA44PSQ

Sign up, buy the gift cards you were already going to use — and support Survivors Unrestrained every time you shop.

Small everyday purchases create big change. Thank you for helping survivors thrive. 💙

12/09/2025

Thank you sooo much Amanda Riley for purchasing these items off our Amazon Wishlist!!! These will definitely help us move forward.

12/07/2025

🚨CALL TO ACTION‼️

Please click on the link below to sign the petition:

https://www.change.org/p/pass-the-protect-kids-act-protect-children-in-youth-residential-programs?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=mobileNativeShare&utm_campaign=share_petition&recruited_by_id=1da11230-4d04-11e3-a429-253a8dd17724&recruiter=6262692

to sign the petition. A federal bill is currently in development to bring about significant reform within the TTI. ✍️

Please share this with everyone you know so we can help support these efforts! 💪

12/02/2025

Have you watched Program: Cons, Cults & Kidnapping on Netflix…
or Teen Torture, Inc. on HBO…
or seen Wilderness in theaters…
or watched Wayward (Netflix) or Cruel Instruction (Lifetime) — and felt angry, heartbroken, or shaken?

If any of those stories made you mad, hurt, or desperate for something to change… please don’t scroll past this.

Because what you saw on screen is not fiction vs. reality.
For hundreds of thousands of survivors, it was our childhood.
For thousands more it is their CURRENT reality and their childhood.

The “Troubled Teen Industry” is a deceiving name.
Most Children aren’t sent away because they’re “bad” or “out of control.”
Kids are sent for grief, neurodivergence, mental health struggles, being LGBTQ+, family conflict, being abused at home, or simply being misunderstood.

These are not “program kids.”
They are children who deserved safety — and were met with abuse, isolation, coercion, control, and silence instead.

This Giving Tuesday, we’re asking you to stand with Survivors Unrestrained — a survivor-led nonprofit supporting survivors of institutional child abuse and advocating to make sure this never happens to another child.

💙 Your support helps us:
• end survivor isolation
• create safe community
• provide peer support
• amplify survivor voices
• advocate for change
• push for The Protect the Kids Act — a federal bill to end abuse in youth residential programs and hold this industry accountable

💛 Ways You Can Help Today:

💵 Donate (if you can)

Your gift directly supports survivors and fuels advocacy.

🔁 Share this post

If you can’t give right now, sharing is powerful — it spreads awareness and helps survivors find support.

✍ Sign the petition

Help us show lawmakers the public is demanding protection for children:
👉https://c.org/TpzMKnhfRZ

🤝 Volunteer

Email us to get involved:
📧[email protected]

🎁 Amazon Wishlist

https://a.co/dme31md

If those shows moved you — let this move the world.
Don’t let this be another story that fades with the credits.

Stand with survivors.
Protect children.
Help end an industry built on secrecy.

👉Ways to Donate:
Zelle: [email protected]
Cash App: $survivors24
Venmo: survivors_unrestrained
Pay Pal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=AP623T5AJYKAA

Whether you donate $1 or $1000 your impact will change lives.

Thank you for believing survivors.
Thank you for caring.
Thank you for helping change what happens next.

Help support Survivors Unrestrained INC by donating or sharing with your friends.