Thread by @DanaDooDah

Leah Remini’s Approved Charities (thanks to having The Process Church of the Final Judgement listed) 🧵 #?

The Aftermath Foundation & SP(Suppressive Persons)TV: A Critique

Yes, the same community who brags about getting me banned on 2 platforms, gave out my cell phone number, call me nasty names…
I want to make it clear: these victims need & deserve help. My issue is discrimination against certain victims & lack of transparency r/t funding.

2018: Per Mike Rinder’s blog, “Aftermath is devoted to providing resources, support & advocacy addressing both immediate & longer-term needs of former & current scientologists, while raising public awareness of the abuses perpetrated by the cult.”
mikerindersblog.org/the-aftermath-…

2018: The same blog post lists 7 board members, including Rinder himself. Aftermath’s back-tax filings do not reflect this.

The years filed here cover 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021. If there were other board members from the beginning, I don’t understand why they weren’t listed.
projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/org…

The first page shows they received a gift totaling $128,824. Below, both the contributor & amount are redacted.

The most recent filing appears to be a more accurate account of the board members, though this too has recently changed.
projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/org…

We also see growth in revenue from inception to the most recent filing. They received another gift (unknown?) for $84,714.00.

Per Aftermath: “Former Sea Org members tend to be industrious workers but many have no employment history nor family outside of Scientology. Further, many have no formal education, bank account, driver’s license or credit history.”
theaftermathfoundation.org

I have zero interest in trying to break down the in’s & outs of the Sea Org. SPTV, the primary moniker on YouTube for AfterMath & all things “ex-Scientology”, has many channels with former Sea Org hosts. Many hosts share their experiences inside for those interested.

Growing Up In Scientology, hosted by Aftermath Board Member Aaron Smith-Levin, has the largest audience. The channel was created in 2015 with over 170k subscribers.
youtube.com/@GrowingUpInSc…

2022: “Twice over the last 2 years, LEO’s been called to quell altercations w/Aaron Smith-Levin, now a candidate for Clearwater City Council. He blames the “hell” & “unbelievable stress” of leaving the Church of Scientology, starting about 7 years ago.”
tampabay.com/news/clearwate…

2014: There’s also record of issues with Herbalife & Aaron Smith-Levin, whose OTG research firm conducted interviews with Herbalife distributors in China. Herbalife is a pyramid scheme as far as I know so, whatever.
reuters.com/article/herbal…

Many know the church owns Clearwater, FL. Aaron ran for council in Clearwater last year & received endorsement from Leah Remini herself. His opponent won.
newsweek.com/florida-city-e…

Back to SPTV: The show offers fundraisers for various goal markers & guests - here is where my questions begin.
This fundraiser to reach 170K subscribers states $500 will go to Aftermath as a matched donation by the host.
youtube.com/live/BOAL-mO17…

July 2023: The only comment available shows “more than $2,000” of $18,500 was sent to The Foundation. This may very well leave $15,000 on the table & it’s not clear where these funds went. There’s no update showing said transaction via PayPal.

2 days later:
The Story of Serge fundraiser shows two channels supporting the fundraiser - GrowingUpInScientology & Blown For Good. “Serge is one of the many people Aftermath has helped.”
No comments from the Pre/After-Show where $26,266.00 went.
youtube.com/live/ItHV-DvRT…

As a popular YT channel, there’s a lot of superchats given during live streams as well. It isn’t clarified whether those are private or for the foundation.
Below, on the Pre-Show, a GoFundMe is linked to a fundraiser for a new YT SPTV creator.
youtube.com/live/ItHV-DvRT…

A large part of SPTV is “Never-In”s, a term for those who were never part of Scientology, but want to be part of the community. One recent guest is Tommy Scoville of The Lifeboat Channel.
I won’t spend too much time on Tommy but…
youtube.com/live/hTJyLZGhy…

The Lifeboat is a recovery group. Tommy Scoville discusses his struggles with prison & addiction & helps others through the sobriety process. When you click on the PayPal to donate, it provides a different name.
youtube.com/@TheLifeBoat?s…

Obviously this is a 🚩 to me. When you search for the name above, his public records show something very different. I won’t get into it here, however, there is a video of “Tommy” snorting…something, on a livestream & falling asleep during a show.
history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/sh…

There are complaints from people independent of the “ex-Scientology” community who have attempted to address these issues for clarification, as well as those in the “ex” community; these questions are framed as “attacks” on behalf of Miscavige.
youtube.com/live/mFZb8iayN…

From my experience, any questions are framed as Office of Special Affairs (OSA) operations against the community. As I understand it, OSA is the Church’s version of the KGB.
Now, I’d like to look at the other SPTV creators regarding transparency of funding. ➡️

The first testimonial listed on Aftermath’s website is Ian Rafalko. A brief biography is listed, with his exit date May 2021, announced on TikTok.
The video included notes his father is ‘Keto Guru Dr. Eric Berg’.
theaftermathfoundation.org/testimonials/

Ian has his own channel, with 15.4K subscribers. He’s been featured on the Jim Jeffries show as well as The Underground Bunker with Tony Ortega.
As shown above:
“The Aftermath Foundation provided Ian with support to ease his transition out of the cult.”
youtube.com/@rafalko_?si=j…

Here’s where questions arise: Aftermath states they helped/are helping him, but, almost a year ago, a GoFundMe was started under Ian Berg.
Almost halfway to a goal of $15K as of today, I question why Aftermath isn’t stepping up here?
gofundme.com/f/help-ian-raf…

There has been no update in almost a year, despite donations still coming in.
One donation states “Tony Ortega steered you my way. I am 72 yo on fixed income but your needs are great so I'll give what I can. Best to you.”
I hope I don’t need to explain why that’s upsetting.

I showed Aftermath’s original tax filings w/only 2 board members listed when this inquiry arose about Aftermath helping, because yes: I asked. In response, I was called a piece of sh*t & blocked. He’s since bragged about my YT getting banned & insinuated I’m an anti-semite.