Any business can be a huge help to those that find themselves affected by family violence. All it takes is a bit of initiative.
That was the message brought to the monthly meeting of the Athabasca District Chamber of Commerce meeting last Wednesday night by Kelly Lynn Spafford from the Community Action for Health Relationships (CAHR) network.
CAHR operates in Athabasca, Westlock and Barrhead with a vision of having rural communities free of relationship abuse. They also work alongside partners, including the Athabasca Prevention of Relationship Abuse Action Committee (PRAAC), to create awareness, remove barriers to services and provide supports to people affected by family violence.
Spafford spoke to the chamber regarding some of their recent work on the issue that included surveys of clients, service providers and the communities they serve.
The audience also heard just how the issue can affect their business, plus what they can do to provide support.
“One of the key recommendations to come out of our recent work, which included a needs assessment, was how we could work in a more coordinated way with our community partners,” Spafford said.
“That’s the reason I am here tonight, to bring awareness that these things occur in small communities like Athabasca and bring attention to some of the risk factors and signs you can spot in order to help address the gaps we have in the present system.”
Part of that assessment included a gender-based analysis (GBA) report that found this region has the highest rate of relationship violence in the province, a rate that is also 23 per cent higher than the national average.
“That demonstrates we are not immune and we face special challenges in rural areas to provide support, treatment and generate awareness,” she explained, adding services such as the Thrive shelter and the Walk A Mile in Her Shoes event – held last Friday in Athabasca – do an important job in the area.
The focus of the presentation then turned to some results in the GBA that centered on businesses.
For instance, a majority of victims confide in a co-worker and in occurrences of workplace violence, 66 per cent of victims know their perpetrator and, in most cases, the abuse involves harassment and bullying at work as well as outside the business.
“Our results showed 54 per cent of victims missed an average of three days of work per month and 97 per cent stated it impacted their work. As well, the report found less than half of businesses have procedures or policies in place to deal with violence in the workplace,” Spafford said.
She then transitioned into talking about the business and community leaders survey they conducted, which generated more than 90 responses.
Spafford said more than 90 per cent agreed there was a need businesses should address, but that 69 per cent had no training to provide any help.
“People saw there was a need to bring this issue out into the open and could recognize some of the key signs,” she stated.
“But most were not sure what they would do and a lot, still believe it is a family matter that should be none of their concern.”
Spafford explained they have put together a toolkit that can be customized to their business.
In addition, her group can even provide trained people to assist businesses in developing policies on violence in the workplace as well as teach employees what signs to look for and what to do should a coworker reveal that they need assistance.
“It’s hard, but simply having that discussion means you are a caring business,” she said.
“It’s a simple way of showing support to them and it may get them to reach out.”
Gala date set
The chamber officially announced its annual Business Awards Gala is set for Oct. 23.
The gala celebrates business excellence in the Athabasca area through several awards including Business of the Year, Marketer of the Year and Employer of Persons with Disabilities award.
Tickets are $50 per person and are available by contacting chamber member Christine Jensen at 780-675-1244 or via email at [email protected].
Annual golf mixer
This Wednesday, the chamber is holding its annual fun golf tournament at the Athabasca Golf and Country Club.
The event is set for 5 p.m. and participants can contact Rick Baksza at [email protected] for more information.
New website to be launched
Members at the meeting received a progress update on the chamber’s new website that will be officially launched at the Business Awards Gala.
The site has a new domain name and has already been populated with information from the previous site.
However, Baksza explained they are still going through the new site and making the required changes to ensure all of the information is current.
The membership was also informed the design went well and the new site will be as mobile-friendly as possible.
A motion was also approved to have the chamber’s billboard on the highway updated to include the new website address.
