FINDING ANGELA SHELTON

Take the Finding Angela Shelton Challenge! What is the Challenge? It is a simple question: How do you get this book into the hands of as many people as possible without relying on modern media? Take the Challenge as a group and come up with genius ideas!
I am the creator of the award-winning documentary, Searching for Angela Shelton , where I interviewed other women around the US who shared my name. I discovered that 70% of them had been victims of rape, childhood sexual assault and/or domestic violence. My survey became personal when I met an Angela Shelton who was tracking sexual predators and lived in the same town as my father who was my abuser. We arrived to her town on Father's Day of all days. Things got too weird to be weird anymore when I decided to confront him on camera. The process of making this film forced me to face my past and myself. The Angela Sheltons taught me about the power of the human spirit, no matter what your name is.

The film has won many awards and I have been on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, 48 Hours Investigates and Lifetime Television for Women. The movie is truly independent and I went on all of those shows because of word-of- mouth. This powerful film has been spread through a grassroots movement of survivors and humanitarian organizations around the world who are breaking the silence about the epidemic of abuse.

Now I have written the full story of my own journey in my book Finding Angela Shelton. The book is not based on the movie but I do talk about making the movie in the book and how it caused me to break my own silence. I tell how I faced my past of abuse and how I covered my pain with self-abuse and addictions, and how I healed and now lead a joyful life. I share my dreams as well as my nightmares (they are in my handwriting in the book). I reveal how I broke the cycle of trauma in my life. I now teach ways to get off the trauma train and onto the Joy Jet! I have seen firsthand how people have transformed and changed their lives forever. When supporters wanted to start this campaign, I was again amazed by the dedication of my fellow humans. Thank you for working for Joy! I am so proud to be an Angela Shelton. Like the supporters say, my book goes beyond me - it is about you. I hope that through Finding Angela Shelton that more amazing warriors are revealed. Thank you for joining a team and being a part of this movement. ~Angela