Current Work

I advocate for survivors, directly and behind the scenes, at all stages of their healing journeys.

I am working across multiple diverse yet converging areas of engagement to create pathways where survivors have access to the resources they need to heal.

This page is a list of my current projects and activities in each of several engagement areas.

To see past projects and activities, click over to the ‘Past Work’ page or Click Here.

Areas of Engagement

Direct Engagement

Volunteer Advocate with BeLEAF Survivors of Racine County	Volunteer for 24-hour shifts 1-3 times per month. During each shift answer the phone for the 24/7 help line and be on call to respond to the local emergency room if a survivor is admitted. Active participant in a group of staff and volunteer advocates who are on call 24/7 to respond for survivors to the emergency room of a newly opened hospital in Racine County.
Facilitator with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Racine County – Sexual Assault / Abuse Survivors Peer Support Group	A peer led support group that meets twice per month for sexual assault / abuse survivors seeking mental health support. (18+)
Facilitator with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Racine County – Family C.A.R.E.S. Peer Support Group	A peer led support group that meets once per month for those who love someone living with a mental illness. (18+)
Backup facilitator with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Racine County – Peer C.A.R.E.S. Group	A peer led support group that meets twice per month for adults living with mental illness or a mental health concern. (18+)
Election Poll Worker with the City of Racine	Work to ensure voters can exercise their right to vote.

Board of Directors – Strategic Engagement

BeLEAF Survivors of Racine County – Board Member	Working to support the mission and vision of BeLEAF Survivors.
NAMI of Racine County – Board Member	Working to support the mission and vision of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Racine County affiliate.
BeLEAF Survivors of Racine County Board – Treasurer, Executive Committee	Working to support BeLEAF Survivors via fiscal responsibility.
BeLEAF Survivors of Racine County Board – Chairman, Legislative Advocacy Committee	Working to support BeLEAF Survivors through legislative advocacy.
BeLEAF Survivors of Racine County Board – Member, Fund Raising Committee	Working to support BeLEAF Survivors ongoing fundraising efforts.

Creating Collaborations

Plan, Organize and Produce Racine County Nonprofit Symposium

Working to plan and hold a symposium for all nonprofit organizations in Racine County. In an era when financial resources are becoming more difficult to secure, the purpose is to recognize and align individual missions, looking for areas of mutual client engagement. The goal is to find resources that could be collaboratively shared instead of competing against each other.

Classroom Education

Instructor with NAMI Wisconsin – Peer Facilitator Training	Training individuals to become peer facilitators for NAMI affiliates across Wisconsin.
Instructor with NAMI Racine County – Family-to-Family Program	Leading an 8-week course to provide information and resources to loved ones of individuals living with mental illness.
Co-Instructor with BeLEAF Survivors – Volunteer Advocate Training Program	Training volunteers to become advocates to work with survivors of sexual assault.
Co-facilitate Governance and Advocacy modules for United Way of Racine’s United Horizons Board Training Program.	United Horizons Board Training Program is a program to prepare community members to serve on nonprofit boards. There are two tracks. The first is focused towards individuals looking to gain leadership and nonprofit board experience and knowledge. The second is geared towards current representatives from nonprofit organizations (both board and staff) who would like to further develop best practices in board management and creating safe spaces. The program is available to Racine County residents and FREE to all participants.
Collaborting with NAMI of Racine County, United Way of Racine, and the County of Racine on behalf of BeLEAF Survivors and local Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) to present trauma informed training to first responders at Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and other local professionals at Crisis Intervention Partners (CIP) training.	CIT is a 40-hour training meant to educate officers on recognizing when individuals have mental illness and are symptomatic, de-escalating the crisis situation and navigating people toward resources and help. CIP is shortened 16-hour version meant for professionals who may interact with an individual during a mental health crisis. BeLEAF and SANE will focus on: 1) Informing and educating officers to understand the trauma based responses that may be encountered when working with survivors in the immediate aftermath of sexual violence; 2) Understand the various aspects of a forensic examination that a survivor may undergo; 3) Recognize vicarious trauma in themselves and acknowledge the need for self care.

Raising Awareness

*Giving Voice, Gaining Power* Healing and Empowerment Coaching	*“Giving Voice, Gaining Power”* grew out of my original advocacy efforts working with survivors of sexual assault and abuse. With time, I recognized that sexual violence and domestic violence, all too often, go hand in hand. Additionally, when I began working in the realm of mental illness, I discovered that the journeys of recovery NAMI seeks to provide easily correlate with the journeys of healing I already worked to create. The underlying concept that connected all of these journeys is the regaining of power in people’s lives that circumstance or the actions of another had taken away. The more I learned, the more I recognized how much of our everyday lives are unconsciously driven by unhealed past traumas. *“That, which you can distinguish, you can extinguish.”* – Scott Kinderman (Me) Healing the inner child may sound very cliche, but I have found it really does need to happen. That moment in our past, when we were hurt, is where we stopped growing. Left unhealed, it is where we, as adults will continue to exist in all of our interactions and relationships. I work with people to help them discover unrecognized traumas from the past. Once discovered, they can work to process and heal from them. I do this in several ways: – Motivational speaking – Leading workshops – Hosting a podcast series on YouTube (CLICK HERE) – One-on-one conversations Reach out if you believe you see something of value for yourself and would like to know more.
scottkinderman.in Enhanced Resources Page	A long term project to enhance the current ‘Resources’ page of this website. The project seeks to provide to better initial information about the various organizations in our community so searchers are not left feeling they need to blindly click link after link to find the service/s that they need. The Enhanced Resource Page would host informational podcasts and short videos from each of the agencies / organizations listed that briefly describe their areas of impact and the services they provide. Additional recordings would be created if an organization felt an offered resouce should be explored at a deeper level. Initially planned as being Racine County centric. It can grow with time.
TV / Radio / Print interviews in support of projects	Some projects and events generate opportunities to speak publicly. It can be through different forms of media like TV, Radio, or Print. It can also be in public arenas like legislative testimony to governement bodies or public events.
Speak with groups and organizations or specific populations	I speak with organizations and groups in more targeted settings. National Crime Victims Awareness Week each April sees me speaking with people in the care of Wisconsin Correctional Facilities. The goal is three-fold. First, to create empathy and understanding for victims of crimes. Next, to let the people in their care see that sexual violence occurs to both women AND men. And lastly, to break through stereo types like “men don’t cry” or “man up” held by many male survivors. It is OK to talk about sexual violence as a male.
Tabling Events for BeLEAF and NAMI as needed	Generating a presense at local events.

Legislative Advocacy and Lobbying*

These are the current legislative priorities that I am focusing on locally, statewide, and nationally:

Advocating for BeLEAF to be recognized as the provider of unique critical services to the citizens of Racine County.

Advocating to support the increased funding request presented in Wisconsin’s Department of Justice (DOJ) 2025/27 budget proposal as submitted to Governor Evers.

Advocating with members of both parties to keep the increased DOJ funding at the proposed increased (or more) levels in the 2025/27 State Budget eventaully sent to Governor Evers for his signature.

Advocating for support and approval of H.R. 909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025 in Congress.

Advocating at the Federal level to create consistant sustainable pathways to fund VOCA.

Want to know more? Or help?

If you would like to know about a particular project or would like to help in some way, reach out to me. Just click over to the ‘Contact Me’ page or Click Here. There you can either fill out and submit the Contact Form, email me directly, or give me a call.