The history of What One Person Can Do begins in 1979, when the founder, Bill Cumming’s daughter, *Joy, was raped.  On that day Bill discovered that he could kill and would have, he is sure, if he had caught the man.  That makes Bill no different than any other killer.  The behavior we fear the most is within us.  This is when Bill began to search for answers to where violence originates.

His search led him to Dr. Nick Groth and the maximum-security prison in Somers, Connecticut.  Nick headed the sex-offenders’ program and said that the only way to really understand the root causes of violence would be to spend a day with him inside Somers.  So, Bill did.

At the end of the day at Somers, a man who was there for committing three combination rape/murders came to Bill, at a time when no one else was in earshot and told Bill that he was deeply sorry that his daughter had been raped.  Bill knew without a shadow of a doubt that he meant it from the bottom of his heart.  Bill learned in that moment that it is possible for even the most violent people to develop meaningful, productive, contributory lives, even within the confines of a maximum security prison.  The critical factor in making this possible, from Nick’s point of view, was that individuals need to experience that they are loved and capable of making choices.  This inmate, who was not eligible for parole, had experienced both these things from Nick.  Not through Nick’s intellect, but through his heart.

What Bill learned on that day profoundly shifted his thinking. Ever since then all he has wanted to do is share with the world what he discovered to be true — that people who are well and know that they are loved do not damage other people or their environment.  All the damage in our society comes from people who do not feel well (healthy or whole in relationship to themselves).

The intention behind creating the Institute was to organize the work Bill Cumming had been doing for over twenty-nine years and share it with as many people as possible.  To us, our business plan is basic.  With the mission in mind, “The well-being of the planet” we operate from five strategies.

• To communicate with every person we encounter in such a way that they see for themselves what is possible in their lives and in our world.
• To make visible the connection between individual wellness and positive contributions to the world.
• To remove barriers that may limit access to someone interested in our programs and services.
• To create new avenues in which our programs and services may be shared.
• To identify and communicate possibilities to those in spheres of influence.