My Morning Musings |
 Tuesday Forum - Women's Group in Maine, USA This past month has been a whirlwind! We started April 1st with a beautiful, thoughtful and fabulous fundraiser to help provide more comfort kits to patients. Vitality Massage in Woodstock, NB hosted their 1 year anniversary and chose our cause as their recipient for donations made for services that day. This day allowed us to share more about what we do, offer opportunities to the public to support us and gain recognition locally for the project and the need, which always helps! The River Valley Sun came down and interviewed us, which we are grateful for as it lets more people know about the needs in our community. Thank you all!
We continue to raise awareness, make presentations to community groups - such as the Unifor UNB group this past week and to share the local resources that help those in need after sexual assault and intimate partner violence. We even had the opportunity to speak to a women's group in Maine at their Tuesday Forum - fun fact - we had a nurse from NB present! She was very supportive of the program as well! Together, we can all create change, share knowledge, skills and abilities and help transform the lives of those around us! We took this past weekend and the opportunity to celebrate the amazing work done by the staff at Liberty Lane - the gala was beautiful, fun and helped educate many more people on the needs of women in our community! Watching the work and legacy that Alyson Pizzey has built over the past 30 years was inspirational! I was happy to treat myself and my new administrative support, Heather Neilson, to a night at the beautiful Delta hotel, attend a classy event all dressed up for a change and dance the night away to the Jenn Russell band! I have to say I am glad to be back to work to be able to afford to treat Heather for her work and get to share in this milestone. (I add that to remind that all we do is volunteer and the funds we raise all go to the project! Our personal services we fund ourselves and we LOVE what we do - but we wish it wasn't necessary!) Heather and I dreamed of the future, the day we can say that we have created a project that serves those in need immediately; that offers them supports to regain some dignity and respect after a life altering experience; to provide tools for the Forensic Nurse Examiners (FNE) that enables them to provide their patients with their basic needs in ways the hospital is unable to; and to know that one day - the world will be able to talk openly, without shame on the victim! We continue to do the work, apply for grants, share the message and raise funds for comfort kits, gift cards, new clothing and other essential needs for patients who see the FNE. If you would like to help, donate or learn more, please check out our website! So get out your 2051 calendars and put the date Dec 1 on it! We plan to celebrate and again thank you all for your continued support, encouragement and vision on how WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!
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Sarah Sherman - Founder of We're Here For You - Comfort Kit ProjectThe founder of this project, Sarah Sherman, felt compelled to help other women, children and young men - who find themselves seeking help after a sexual assault. From personal experience, Sarah knows the trauma of having to get help from the RCMP, going to the ER and the devastating experience of having to undergo a rape kit from a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) which can take several hours. The nurses are amazing, but nothing makes it feel any better. At the end of the exam, Sarah recalled what it was like to put on clothing that did not fit right, was inappropriate for herself and to walk out of the room with nothing. She wanted to do something that would make this recovery a little bit less intimidating for the next person. She hoped to help provide them with some dignity, respect and equality as they make their way through what will inevitably be a long journey of working through justice, healing and recovery. |
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