Writing Toward Sharing, Hope and Healing

Tonight’s four speakers at Curley’s Diner will relate their stories of trauma, hope and empathy, following their participation last year in a creative workshop of self-understanding and healing, guided by psychologist and poetry therapist Dr. Marianela Medrano:


Marianela Merdano



Shelly Ransom is a Darien-based speech language pathologist whose devotion to helping others find their voices has been channeled into assorted approaches beyond addressing communication disorders, including fundraising, yoga and meditation instruction.

An avid biker and reader, Shelly graduated from Sacred Heart University, where she earned the Dean’s Leadership Award.  When she isn’t glued to her computer, she likes hiking, reading, and spending time with her family.

In 2015 Bethel resident Karen Mello came to The Center for Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling and Education as its new Director of Development and Communications from the United Way of Western Connecticut, where she oversaw funding for programs in support of low-income families.

Starting in January, Karen, working with this evening’s other guest speakers, launched Survivors Helping To Inspire New Endings (SHINE), an empathy- and solidarity-building program whose members speak on behalf of victims and survivors of sexual violence to let others know they are not alone and how anyone, of any age can be impacted.

She has served with the Statewide Victim Survivor Advisory Council, Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence and, via her work on the Connecticut K-12 Child Sexual Abuse and Assault Education Planning Team, helped implement Erin’s Law.

Cliff Benham is the Director of Design and Sales at Second Chance, a company that upcycles and restores furniture. A Stamford resident, he has been a Center board member for six years. He lives in Stamford with his wife and two daughters.

A two-time survivor as child and adult, herself, Michelle Nelson Giorno moved several times around the South over the past thirty years before ultimately settling in the Ridgefield area. She became a member of the speaker’s bureau for RAINN (Rape Assault Incest National Network) in 2009 and took on a similar role for The Center.

In addition to her public awareness-raising activities, she is working on a memoir which addresses her inspiring transition from victim to social healer. Michelle enjoys her family, nature, yoga, photography and other activities.

PoemAlley members will then respond to the guest testimonies  with work addressing their own experiences with depression, sorrow and the resultant strategies for coping, acceptance and recovery.

Originally organized by PoemAlley, this special four-session program was held at The Center for Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling and Education in Stamford in late 2015 and supported through a CAPP grant from the City of Stamford.