Elk Point is well on its way to having its own Victim Services society, after 15 years under the St. Paul and District Victim Services umbrella.
St. Paul and District Victim Services is one of 117 police-based victim service units across the province that have provided service to more than 60,000 victims of crime and disaster, with 1,767 volunteers contributing over 200,000 hours of their time to provide information, support and referrals on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-per-week basis.
The St. Paul group currently has three Elk Point residents, Deanna Easthope, Isabel Myshaniuk and Elaine Ziomek, on its board, and has been alternating their monthly meetings between St. Paul and Elk Point.
In recent months, interest in the group has grown to the point that, “In the coming year, we hope to establish a separate society here,” St. Paul Victim Services coordinator Guy Genereux said at the group’s open house in Elk Point on Thursday. “Initially, that seems like a daunting task, but we’ve hatched a bit of a plan.”
That plan, at the outset, would be for Elk Point to share the services of the St. Paul staff, Genereux said.
“Victims of crime and tragedy deserve to be treated with courtesy and compassion… and victims’ views must be considered,” Genereux said. He said the organization of volunteers “helps people through a time when they most need support. Volunteers are available to provide support in the first critical hours after an incident. They provide a listening ear, comfort and reassurance by phone of in person, in the victim’s home or at a hospital.”
The support doesn’t end there, however, he noted.
“When court is necessary, we contact the witness or victim to offer information on court procedures and court dates, we accompany victims to court. We also can provide reference material and information on crime prevention as well as on the Solicitor General programs available to victims of crime.”
Genereux and his assistant, Fran Harder, handed out copies of the Solicitor General’s comprehensive handbook on Victims of Crime Protocol, which explains what victims of crime can expect from the criminal justice system.
“But it’s not only victims of crime that we work with, it’s tragedy as well,” Genereux said. “We’re called to schools. We assisted in Elk Point twice when students were killed in vehicle crashes, and just last week in Mallaig, as crisis interveners.”
Increased awareness about the St. Paul program has seen their caseload grow to 455 so far this year, compared to 318 for 2009.
Genereux said the guiding principles of Victim Services include treating victims with courtesy, compassion and respect, and that “the privacy of victims should be considered and respected to the greatest extent possible.” Victims should be given information about the criminal justice system, he added, and having spent 26 years as a police officer, “I spend a lot of time explaining that.”
Harder also explains the importance of seeking justice through the courts. “I will tell them there is a chance (the perpetrator) will get off, but you will have had your say, and not let (that person) get away with it.”
Close to 70 per cent of the victims come from the area’s Aboriginal communities, “and are an important component of what we do,” Genereux said. “In April 2009, we got extra funding to improve service to under-served communities. We opened offices in Frog Lake, Fishing Lake, Goodfish and Saddle Lake. The program funding ends in March 2011, and we’re looking at ways to continue the service.”
Genereux spoke on volunteer opportunities within the organization for mature, caring and dedicated individuals with a desire to help others, and noted, “We have some very good volunteers at this time.” Volunteers must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants, 18 years or older, with police security clearance, mandatory certification victim advocate training, a valid driver’s license and want to assist victims of crime in your community, and must maintain confidentiality.
“It’s satisfying work to help victims,” Harder noted, “but it’s not necessarily easy. It’s stressful. We are there when people are under extreme stress. We can be a calming influence. We go with the police to notify of a death, and we can stay and make phone calls and make sure the family has support. We’re the first responders and we make things a little bit easier.”
At the conclusion of the open house, Lynn Proskiw and Bernice Capjack agreed to join the three Elk Point members of the existing board to form a new Elk Point board, and the names of two more potential members who were unable to attend the meeting had also been added to the list. The group will hold an organizational meeting in the near future, as well as an orientation meeting with the St. Paul board, and will get paperwork underway to become a society.
Genereux said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the response the open house provided, while Coun. Maxine Fodness, County of St. Paul representative to the St. Paul board, added, “It’s just wonderful.”
