Comments

This is a comment sent in to our trainers Leila Rae Sommerfeld and Valerie Mainridge of Gresham, OR

Thank you again from our entire team! You and Valerie did such a fabulous job. Several of our volunteers commented at the end that your traiing was the best self-defense class they had ever taken - and several had attended classes in the past. you adapted your presentation to fit perfectly into our time constraints and skill level. You and Valerie brought such great energy and enthusiasm to our class. We especially appreciate you taking time on a Sunday. We feel empowered to continue to advocate for sexually exploited women in and around Portland.

We are so pleased to know you and your work. I hope this is only the beginning of our partnership.

I am interested in becoming a certified trainer for Just Yell Fire. I gained my Master's degree in Library Science last May with an emphasis in children's and youth services, and hope to find a job soon as a public librarian. With the amount of contact I will have in that field with young and teenage girls, as well as contacts with schools and other libraries, I would like to find out how to become involved and help promote your program.

I have been training in aikido as a self-defense art since June, and will be testing for my first rank soon. The more I learned in aikido, the more it made me aware of how girls and women in America are socialized about violence. Movies, television, and popular media seem to promote the belief that girls and women cannot win or escape in a situation where we are under attack by a man. Recognizing this made me interested in finding out what programs were already available to promote girls' and women's self-defense. I discovered Just Yell Fire by Googling "women's self-defense". I was thrilled to find that someone has begun a movement to counter that socialization early in women's lives, beginning with teaching the girls who are most at risk that they CAN defend themselves and escape an attacker, even if their attacker is much larger. I myself am only 5'1", and the techniques that eliminate an attacker's advantage of greater height are also especially applicable to me.

I live in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and I would like any information available on training for certification for Just Yell Fire, either locally or in neighboring states if necessary. Many thanks to you, Dallas, and everyone else involved with Just Yell Fire for your caring and hard work.

As the father of two girls, 8 and 10, I appreciate the work you are doing. I will share your message with my daughters and my friends.

Keep up the good work!

It was such a pleasure having you visit and present at our school on Friday. Our students were very impressed but more importantly feel they received great information that can help protect themselves and their children. The extra DVD's are flying out of my office door as I shared information about our presentation at the all staff meeting on Monday. Please pass along our appreciation to Dallas and Catherine as they continue to get their very important message out, everywhere possible.

I was very impressed with what I saw on the Good Morning America show back in March on this project. The people who brought this video together should be very proud of themselves. It is an important topic and one that ever young person should know about.

I am a wife, a mother and a student. Watching Montel Williams, they show the segment of your dvd. I COMMEND the young girls for thinking of this. you girls are amazing. To the Crew, I think you guys are awesome. I'm glad someone finally made a dvd to show girls my younger sisters age(14) actually doing this. this shows that they are capable of doing it themself. NO female should become a victim because she can not protect herself. THANK YOU! Comming from a Daughter, a Mother, and most of all, an older sister. I really commend you guys.

Thank you for doing this.

I heard a rave review about the film on Radion Station 860 this morning. It's just the thing I 've been looking for for my daughter, who is a junior at Sacramento State University. One of her roommates recently was attacked while walking to school, but got away and was not hurt, thank goodness. The good thing about it is that Kelly and her friends are finally paying attention when I talk about being prepared for situations like this. I'm looking for good ways to educate the girls on self defense, and this sounds perfect.

I watched the Montel Williams show and I was impressed that such young girls have stepped up to help others. I have a daughter, and I think that this movie would benefit her, and give my husband and I a little peace, knowing that she has the information needed to ward off a possible attack.

Hi girls, First off let me congratulate you on your program, you are well above your years in all that you have already accomplished. That being said, my husband is a Police Officer who is also a School Resource Officer/DARE Officer. After I told him about your DVD he asked me to write to order one so that he could show it to the girls in his Middle and High School. Again for what it is worth I am very proud of you both, and I hope you realize what a difference you are making.

I am a social worker who works with many young women in the community. I believe that Just yell Fire is a wonderful tool for increasing self-esteem and encouraging women to be proactive. This is a tool I want to share with my clients in the field.

Thank you!