Sonny Von Cleveland shares his story of being trafficked by his mother from the time he was three until he was twelve, surviving years of abuse, and growing up without the intervention or support he needed. As a child, getting into trouble became an unexpected form of safety, eventually leading him into the juvenile justice system and then prison at sixteen, where he was SAed during his first week. In the years that followed, Sonny became involved in gangs and violence, returned to prison with fifteen additional felonies, and eventually found himself facing years in solitary confinement.

It was there that an unlikely friendship with a man in the cell across from him forced Sonny to confront the anger, trauma, and harm that had shaped so much of his life. Through that relationship, Sonny began taking responsibility for the pain he had caused while finding a way to give purpose to the pain he had survived. After spending a total of eighteen years incarcerated, he rebuilt his life through music, storytelling, advocacy, and a commitment to helping others. Today, Sonny works in the fight against child trafficking and exploitation, using both his lived experience and his voice to educate families, support survivors, and help protect the children he says deserve the intervention he never had.

Sonny’s Links:

https://www.instagram.com/sonnyvonclevelandofficial

https://www.tiktok.com/@sonnyvoncleveland

https://www.youtube.com/@sonnyvonclevelandofficial

https://www.sonnyvoncleveland.com

https://linktr.ee/sonnyvonclevelandofficial

Sonny’s Book - Hey White Boy: Conversations of Redemption

https://a.co/d/0iVuFHs6

Our Rescue

https://ourrescue.org

Sonny’s Podcast - Unlikely Allies: Inside Our Fight - Coming Soon!

https://ourrescue.org/unlikelyallies

Resources:

National Grooming Prevention Hotline

https://www.ngph.org

623-688-3214

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

988

RAINN

24/7 confidential support, online chat & hotline

1-800-656-HOPE

Beyond the Monsters Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/beyondthemonsters

https://linktr.ee/BeyondtheMonsters

Disclaimer: This podcast shares personal experiences and educational discussion. It is not medical or mental health advice. Always consult a qualified professional regarding your own care.

Topic: Fight Against Child Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Childhood Trauma, Prison Trauma, CSA,

Child Exploitation Prevention

If you have a story you'd like to share on the podcast, please fill out a form here:

https://form.jotform.com/243366933402153

Please contact beyondthemonsters@gmail.com for any business inquiries!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our 100th episode and Suicide Prevention & Awareness Month, Chell shares one of the most difficult and personal stories she has ever told: losing her friend David to suicide. David was a successful businessman and philanthropist who was known for his generosity, but behind the life people saw, he was struggling with drugs, alcohol, and his mental health. When David reached out to Chell during a crisis in November 2017, she spent hours trying to keep him talking and convince him that what he was feeling was temporary. What happened over the course of that night would leave Chell carrying an experience she never could have prepared for.

Chell opens up about witnessing her friend’s suicide, the guilt and questions she carried afterward, and the severe depression that followed. Having spent much of her career working in psychiatry and addiction, she struggled with the belief that she should have known what to do and ultimately stepped away from that work after his death. Nearly nine years later, Chell shares what this experience taught her about taking suicidal statements seriously, getting help when someone is in crisis, and the lasting impact suicide can have on the people left behind. More than anything, she shares David’s story in the hope that someone listening will check on the people they love and never assume that a cry for help shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Resources:

Suicide & Crisis Hotline

Call or text 988

Crisis Text Line

741741

Beyond the Monsters Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/beyondthemonsters

https://linktr.ee/BeyondtheMonsters

Disclaimer: This podcast shares personal experiences and educational discussion. It is not medical or mental health advice. Always consult a qualified professional regarding your own care.

Topic: Suicide Prevention, Mental Health, Complex PTSD, Substance Use Disorder, Loss & Grief

If you have a story you'd like to share on the podcast, please fill out a form here:

https://form.jotform.com/243366933402153

Please contact beyondthemonsters@gmail.com for any business inquiries!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

LaRon shares his story of growing up in extreme poverty surrounded by addiction, violence, neglect, and abuse before entering the foster care system. After being placed in a foster home where he was starved, tortured, threatened with weapons, and made to eat from dog bowls, LaRon reached a point where he no longer wanted to live. In one of his darkest moments, music interrupted a suicide attempt and became something he could hold onto until he eventually returned to a foster mother who gave him the safety and unconditional love he had never known.

LaRon opens up about being adopted, pursuing a career in music, and the ways his childhood trauma continued to follow him into adulthood, marriage, and fatherhood. After his marriage ended and the mother who adopted him unexpectedly died, LaRon found himself struggling again with grief, anger, and suicidal thoughts while trying to rebuild his life and remain present for his children. Today, he is confronting the patterns passed down through his family, navigating an ongoing fight to reunite with his youngest daughter, and using his music and story to turn what he survived into something that might give someone else hope.

LaRon’s Links:

https://www.instagram.com/iamlaronmusic

https://m.youtube.com/stevie3580?ra=m

https://beacons.ai/iamlaronmusic

LaRon’s Book: From My Test To My Testimony

https://a.co/d/0942q33m

Resources:

Crisis Text Line

741741

RAINN

24/7 confidential support, online chat & hotline

1-800-656-HOPE

SAMHSA’s National Helpline

1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Beyond the Monsters Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/beyondthemonsters

https://linktr.ee/BeyondtheMonsters

Disclaimer: This podcast shares personal experiences and educational discussion. It is not medical or mental health advice. Always consult a qualified professional regarding your own care.

Topic: Foster care abuse, Child neglect, Childhood trauma, mental health, Generational trauma, Foster care system, Child welfare system

If you have a story you'd like to share on the podcast, please fill out a form here:

https://form.jotform.com/243366933402153

Please contact beyondthemonsters@gmail.com for any business inquiries!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.