SuEllen Fried, a Prairie Villager, dedicated her life to “championing” for other people.
Among her numerous endeavors, Fried co-founded Reaching Out From Within, a Kansas City, Missouri-based rehabilitation program for people who are incarcerated, in 1982 alongside Greg Musselman.
Fried toured the country advocating for bullying prevention at schools and conferences through BullySafe USA, an anti-bullying organization she founded in 2002.
Last month, the lifetime advocate died at the age of 92 on Oct. 3.
Now, family, friends and organizations Fried impacted greatly — like Reaching Out From Within — are remembering the beloved advocate with a celebration of life on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Jason Miles, the board treasurer of Reaching Out From Within, told the Post that Fried “always said that she was addicted to personal transformations.”
“The work that she did, she was a light to the world, and now it’s time for us to let our light shine,” Miles said.
Fried co-founded rehabilitation program off a challenge
Without the program Reaching Out From Within, Miles may never have met Fried.
In the late 1970s, a member of the Lansing Correctional Facility’s Lifers’ Club (those who are serving a life sentence) surveyed a cell block to see how many of those incarcerated had been victims of child abuse in Kansas, Miles said. “The number was astronomical, it was like 83%,” Miles said.
The Lifers’ Club published an article with the survey results, which Fried — who was working in child abuse prevention at that time — wrote in asking for permission to use it or quote from it, Miles said.
Miles said the Lifers’ Club obliged Fried’s request, but only if she went to the prison and spoke to the Lifers’ Club. She didn’t hesitate.
“SuEllen was tiny but mighty for sure,” Miles said. “For her to step outside of her comfort zone like that and just walk into a men’s prison in 1977, I mean that really was a big deal.”
From there, Fried connected with Musselman, who was in the Lifers’ Club (but not the author of the article). The pair co-founded Reaching Out From Within five years later.
Miles participated in the Reaching Out From Within program while he was incarcerated from 1991 to 1996. He said the program helped connect him with others who were trying to make positive changes in their lives.
‘She was dialed in on you’
Fried and Miles became friends once Miles became more involved as a Reaching Out From Within volunteer and board member in 2011. His record was expunged that same year.
Miles accompanied Fried on annual holiday road trips to all of the eight state prisons in Kansas. At the prisons, the pair ate a meal with incarcerated inmates and dropped off a box of gifts.
Miles also drove Fried to the women’s prison in Topeka monthly for meetings, giving him ample “windshield time” with the lifelong advocate.
Fried was always perplexed as to why the “guys and gals” at Kansas prisons made a “big fuss” about her during visits, Miles said.
She was all about “championing” for people who needed someone in their corner, and she gave each person she spoke with her full attention.
“When you were talking to SuEllen, it was like her focus was on you and her concern was on you and she was dialed in on you — and you really felt that,” Miles said.
“The care that she had, you could really feel that coming off of her. I think when the guys and the gals inside would encounter that, I think a lot of them were taken aback by that because that’s not something that they normally get,” Miles added.
Fried was like a ‘Maya Angelou … Nelson Mandela in Kansas City’
Mindy Corporon, the co-founder of SevenDays and vice president of strategy and engagement with Global Care Force, described Fried as “a shining star.”
Corporon said she felt an immediate connection with Fried when they met in 2015. That was before Corporon learned about Fried’s history of advocacy and prison work.
“SuEllen is one of those people that, you could meet her at a grocery store and have no idea what she’d done previously, but her energy and her spirit connected people immediately,” Corporon said.
Over the years, Fried also attended and participated in several SevenDays events and inspired the nonprofit’s art competition by wearing a “Power of Kindness” button everywhere.
In April 2024, Fried was announced as a Ripple of Kindness award winner — alongside nine others in a rare multi-winner year for the organization based on the cohort of 30 “amazing” nominees, Corporon said. Fried was “tickled pink” to win an award and “shined even more,” she said.
Fried inspired Corporon to think about her purpose in life and how she herself wants to be remembered. Corporon said Fried made her feel like she belonged, she could have bravery and she could step into spaces where others may be unwelcoming.
Corporon said that when she thinks of Fried, and her far-reaching prison work in particular, she likens her to that of a “Maya Angelou … Nelson Mandela in Kansas City.”
“I think it’s important that people reflect on SuEllen, and what she’s done is also global,” Corporon said. “I mean, it’s a big deal for our community and Kansas City, but what she did has affected people from all over the world from her work in the prisons.”
A celebration of life is planned for Nov. 9
- There is a celebration of life in Fried’s honor planned for 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9.
- The event is at Yardley Hall at Johnson County Community College.
- Those who wish to honor Fried are encouraged to make contributions to Reaching Out From Within, Prevent Child Abuse America and Uncornered Inc.
Other noteworthy obituaries: Art Newcomer, former SM East athletic director and ‘Lancer through and through’, dies at 91
