Unity Project CEO Seeks To Strengthen Human Connections

By Nancy K. Crevier

“I want my children to grow up in a world where we can see our humanity,” says Sandy Hook resident Margo Deselin. It is a wish she believes is held by people worldwide, and as CEO of The Unity Project, she puts her words into action.

The Unity Project is a five-year-old, nonprofit organization founded and directed by Dr John Woodall of Harvard University. As a practicing psychiatrist with expertise in posttraumatic stress disorder, Dr Woodall has channeled his observations and skills in working with people in crisis into methodology, which makes up the principles of The Unity Project (UP).

The UP works to build resiliency skills to counter negativity in the face of crises through arts or service-based programs that help people recognize their strengths and commonalities.

Ms Deselin, whose background includes theater, marketing, and investing, felt that her skills and business world connections could further the principles of UP and help other people. About a year and a half ago, she opted to leave the corporate world and dedicate herself to this group. She had come in contact with Dr Woodall in prior work with nongovernment organizations in Connecticut, and was very impressed with the visions he presented.

Those basic principles woven into the program consist of the belief that there is a oneness in human dignity, a oneness of humanity, that there is unity in diversity, and that crisis is an opportunity to unite around skills derived from individual dignity, resulting in communities of dignity.

“In crisis our identities tend to shrink,” says Ms Deselin. “The first thing people will do in a crisis is to band together. Next comes a lack of dialogue and a lack of skills to sustain that togetherness. The focus is put on the problems, rather than the strengths. That’s where UP comes in. Resilient skills bring out the best qualities we have. Crisis is an opportunity to rally around our common strengths.”

Presently, UP is directed at providing resiliency training to youth through an affiliation with the national group SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), as UP believes that giving young people skills they can use should they encounter a crisis situation, be it as small as a family problem or as huge as 9/11, ultimately will help people in difficult situations to better deal with the problems they face.

There are times of crisis when Unity Project extends its training beyond just the youth, though. Unity Project partners in war-torn parts of the world have benefited from resiliency training provided by the organization to advance common goals of peace. And in the United States, Reach UP! is a Unity Project initiative Ms Deselin’s company is implementing to help children in the hurricane-ravaged areas of the southern United States develop recovery skills through the power of art.

“We have teams of art educators that will be our initial wave of training teams,” Ms Deselin says. “Dr Woodall has already given training to teaching artists of the New Orleans Young Audiences and the Houston Young Audiences organizations at the offices of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston. [Young Audiences is a nationwide nonprofit organization that works with the educational system to provide arts education to children through a variety of arts performances and programs.] We will extend training to teachers and administrators in the school, really anyone who is interested.” Reach UP! arts and service-based programs, she thinks, will help displaced persons and their host communities.

“People are so generous and they see a need to help these people,” Ms Deselin explains. But most people do not have the skills to deal with extended needs of crisis victims. The immediate feeling of empathy for the hurricane victims will eventually give way, UP believes, to feelings of division, which Ms Deselin describes as, “The us against you. You’re-not-from-here feelings.”

Resiliency training can help offset these divisive attitudes. She adds, “Above and beyond the basic survival needs of the victims of Katrina and Rita, recovery depends upon social strengthening to counteract predictable problems of hopelessness, division, dependency, and social unrest, as well as to promote social cohesion and catalyze innovations in building economic capacity in the survivors and their new host communities.”

Where most recovery interventions fall far short is acting to build these capacities. The need to build these strengths, especially in vulnerable children, will extend far beyond the time when emergency aid has been provided, she noted. “The Unity Project’s Katrina Reach UP! initiative anticipates these needs and is acting to apply hard learned lessons from our work in crisis areas around the world and in the US after 9/11 to mobilize personal resilient strengths of children and their support networks in families and schools.”

With hurricane evacuees spread across the nation, Reach UP! realizes that the program must extend beyond the immediate storm damaged area. “Reach UP! wants to link students nationwide through a SADD network, which will be web-based,” says Ms Deselin. “SADD advisors across the country will take part in training.” Trained advisors then help students form action teams to address pertinent problems such as violence, racism, and other issues that divide young people.

“Youth,” Ms Deselin says, “does not have the language to name their strengths.” Naming strengths and not focusing on differences and problems is a key point in UP training, says Ms Deselin. “If you can name your strength — tolerance, compassion, great public speaker, whatever it is — then you can value it. Once you value it, then you can choose it. When you choose it, then you can use it.” Teachers, artists, and unity advisors point out strengths and guide discussions that show what a person is about personally.

Rural and suburban schools can benefit from resiliency training just as much as an inner-city school can, according to Ms Deselin. The SADD group at Newtown High School has not yet been trained, but they will be offered the opportunity for UP training in the near future. “The UP will come to Newtown in some form,” states Ms Deselin. “The involvement will be in whatever capacity people feel comfortable. I want people to feel a sense of connectedness.”

She adds, “Crises and challenges, both large and small, can bring out the best in people or the worst. The Unity Project’s dynamic programming turns these into opportunities to learn about the best in ourselves and others and unite around our common strengths. Reach UP! is a way for the people of Newtown to share their strength with those in need and, in turn, help build hope. Everyone’s participation is vital and does make a difference.”

Sharing the Unity Project vision cannot be done without funding and volunteers willing to be trained, she notes. Tax-deductible donations can be sent to The Unity Project, PO Box 239, Lunenburg MA 01462, or locally to Margo Deselin, CEO, The Unity Project, 15 Riverside Road, Sandy Hook CT 06482. More information, including volunteer opportunities, can be obtained by contacting Ms Deselin, or at www.unityproject.org, the project’s website, which is expected to be up and running in early October.

Ms Deselin expresses that very little of any donation goes to operational fees. The majority goes directly to aid the projects through the purchase of written materials, workbooks, 30-second television ads, and 30-minute programs for public television training videos.

Universally, Ms Deselin feels, people want what are common goals and understandings. “The skills we [UP] teach are applicable to daily life. We need to discuss, consult with each other. It helps in community building and even economic prosperity because you learn how to deal with people.”