Cassandra's Story

In this episode, Host Tia Ryans speaks with Cassandra Severe, who is a mother that takes us on an emotional journey of surviving sexual abuse as a child, how her acts of rebellion led to her eventual incarceration, and the moment she had to explain to her son that her stay at “college” was actually time spent in jail.

Cassandra Severe is a mother, student, survivor, activist, and change agent living and working in Newark, New Jersey. She currently works with the Newark Housing Authority to support the Asset Manager and the Department of Operations. She holds an Associates degree in Human and Social Services from Essex County College and a Bachelors in social work from Rutgers University- Newark. Cassandra is currently a speaker of the Faces of Women Imprisoned Speakers Bureau with the Ladies of Hope Ministries to deepen and broaden public conversation through public symposiums and 2016-2017 Beyond the Bars Fellow of Columbia University Center for Justice. 

Cassandra previously worked as the Project Manager of the Newark Community Street Team (NCST). NCST is a community-based violence reduction strategy that trains and deploys Outreach Workers and High-Risk Interventionists in the South and West Wards of Newark. Cassandra also worked as a Facility Coordinator and Case Manager at Integrity House, a multi-service agency that offers a full continuum of care for individuals with substance use disorders. Cassandra knows firsthand the difficulty and challenges people face after traumatic life experiences; thus she has made it her mission and passion to incorporate healing in her social work practices.

Cass' Recommended Book List

• Praying for you Spirit-led prayers, by Pastor Mary Cooper
• Peace in the Hood- ending the violence, by Aquil Basher
• The New Jim Crow, By Michelle Alexander
• Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, And Redemption In American Prison, by Shaka Senghor
• Built to Outlast The Storm: The 12 Points of Turning a Setback into a Major Comeback,  by Jamila T. Davis

To support the continued work of NJ F.O.R.T.E House and learn more about the organization, visit: njfortehouse.org
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Hiding In Plain Sight: The Neighbors You Never Hear From is produced by Tia Ryans, Brit Harley, and Dionysus Augus.

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This series is part of the Newark News, and Story Collaborative made possible with funding support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Victoria Foundation. The Newark News and Story Collaborative is committed to elevating community-driven storytelling to fill information gaps in local and national media. The Collaborative trains community members in storytelling, media-making, and other creative art forms to share and amplify their experiences. It’s laying the groundwork for a collaborative network that will address longstanding information inequities in Newark, New Jersey. For more information and to hear local stories, visit newarkstories.com.