My Morning Musings |
9/20/2023 0 Comments Post Summer NewsI thought I should write a blog and update you all on our work, I then noticed I hadn't written one since May! My apologies for being distant! I have been running straight out since late May! I was very fortunate to be able to spend June in Nanaimo working remotely while helping my oldest child start her second business. Since then I have been on the road most of the summer on my other passion project - working to deliver education and awareness on environmental issues, climate change and electric vehicles. I wrapped up last week on the lovely Panmure Island, PEI - what an incredible place! We are back at it though! Heather and I attended the Take Back The Night Event (TBTN) in Woodstock, NB. This Friday we will be in Nackawic and we have other events to tell you about as well! You can read the story under our news heading or directly from the River Valley Sun. While preparing to speak at the TBTN I did a little research on the history of the event: Take Back The Night is the oldest worldwide movement to stand against sexual violence in all forms. The earliest activists protested the lack of safety for women, when walking down the street alone at night. Although we have come incredibly far, we still have so far to go! When we live in a world where EVERYONE can walk safely, we will know we are ALMOST there!
I believe that one way to achieve this goal is to educate all people, but particularly children, on what healthy relationships look like, what true consent in all aspects of our lives is and to love themselves. If we can do this, we create a community that has empathy, trust and considers the world around us versus our own selfish needs. When we care about people and understand the impact our actions have - we will all live better, healthier lives! Part of this is changing how we phrase things, such as "100 women were raped last month" to "75 men committed rape last month" we need to place the blame where it lies and help remove the stigma to those who have been injured and assaulted. I am pleased that we now use the term "Sexual Violence" instead of "Sexual Assault" as violence delivers more of the impact in the statement and assault can be seen to minimalize it. Part of this is what we are sharing when we educate the public as well as when we do age appropriate school presentations. We have received some funding YAY! So we will be providing comfort kits/etc. to Miramichi and Moncton! We are so excited to be in all the major Horizon Health hospitals. We would like to thank Horizon Health and Sexual Violence New Brunswick for our grants and to RVCC River Valley Caring Communities for the support in receiving grants until we can get our funding in place for the non-profit charitable status. Some events coming up:
Please stay tuned, watch what we are up to on Facebook or Instagram! I would like to thank ALL of the dedicated people who work with those who have been through sexual and intimate partner violence, in particular the Forensic Nurse Examiners who I have been working with. Without them being on board, this program would NOT exist! One last note! How can you help? We need to continue to raise independent funds so that we can become a non-profit and an umbrella organization to expand to the Atlantic provinces who would like to see these same services in their hospitals! Please check out our donations page and remember - your laundry and your house WON'T clean themselves, but you can do it environmentally safe and raising funds for us! EVERYDAY that you use our link - you pay the current price BUT we get a 20% donation from Tru Earth AND from Sept. 22-24th we get 30% of EVERY sale when you use our link! Please consider cleaning your house and helping us at the same time! AND in the next newsletter I will share another fundraising link along the same lines! Let's save people and the planet at the same time! I have been using these products for a couple of years and I LOVE IT! Reach out if you would like to connect or have us participate in an event!
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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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