Hello, everyone. Thank you for the invitation to share with you today.
My name is Jodi Heidinger, and I am the coordinator for the family violence prevention program here with Families First in Fort Saskatchewan. We support a small suburban and rural area here in Alberta at Fort Saskatchewan in the Sturgeon County region, and our primary funding comes from the City of Fort Saskatchewan, along with supplementary funding from the United Way. This funding allows us to provide long-term supports that assist individuals with removing the barriers that have been keeping them from transitioning into a life free from abuse. This support includes threat assessment and safety planning, needs assessment, education and outreach, advocacy, court support and referrals.
As a former RCMP officer and now in my current position, I have been working for the last 20 years on the ground with victims and survivors of abuse and collaboratively with community partners to address family violence. I know you all know that family violence is a very complex issue.
Individuals who are looking to leave their abusive relationships face many barriers in doing so. Being trauma informed and walking with clients have given us an opportunity to see just where the challenges lie. When clients finally feel ready to leave their abusive relationships, they consistently see the barriers that keep them from doing so: access to transitional safe housing, practical and sustainable income, legal supports and long-term mental health supports that are inclusive.
Supports that currently exist and help clients are not always easy to access in a timely manner, and if they do qualify for such supports, there are usually parameters in place on how the funds can be used.
We are extremely grateful for our partnership with SADA. It has improved the way we've been able to support families impacted by violence. It's a tool that we use in parallel with other program supports, and funds are immediate and flexible. This gives us the capacity to provide timely, safe transition for clients in need. That SADA fund allows us to effectively respond to situations requiring our immediate intervention with hope for more time to focus on critical prevention, like working with men and boys in our community to challenge deeply rooted belief systems and our society's acceptance of toxic masculinity. This is the ultimate goal we need if we are to move towards our collective goal of eliminating violence in our communities.
Thank you.