ATHABASCA — The Athabasca and Area Prevention of Relationship Abuse Committee (PRAAC) normally relies on their annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes campaign to raise money, but last year they couldn’t, and it seems unlikely to happen this year too.
The money raised goes to Healthy Families Healthy Futures in Athabasca for the Thrive program, which helps victims of family and intimate partner violence find a way to get out of the situation. However, due to funding cuts the organization will need an extra $8,000 on top of the $15,000 PRAAC raises to be able to maintain the program.
“Walk a Mile is a very personal thing,” said PRAAC committee secretary Tamara Yurchak. “People come out, they watch, they cheer, they have a hot dog and off they go. They give us the money, but last year obviously that didn't happen.”
Last year, the group produced a video featuring a local woman Nattolie Chilton, who escaped intimate partner violence long before she came to Athabasca and shared a small part of her experience to help raise awareness and money for PRAAC.
"I think one of the things that I got from community members was that it was a story of someone in (the) community, someone who had utilized services, leaving a situation of domestic violence or relationship abuse,” said Thrive coordinator Irene Fitzsimmons.
And while Thrive is a program available in Athabasca, Barrhead and Westlock, PRAAC only exists in Athabasca and has a constant awareness campaign on social media and the radio which makes the the program very busy.
“It has been kind of a double-edged sword — it increases the numbers that seek help and so our caseload in Athabasca is high, and higher than the other areas," said Fitzsimmons. "It means that our community is aware and knows how to reach out for support because of having PRAAC within our community.”
If funding runs out though, the commitment is still there to help people seeking help, so fundraising is crucial to maintaining access.
“When a grant is coming to an end you can't let those people suddenly not have service,” Fitzsimmons said. “This is a commitment we've made to them to be able to access Thrive programming.”
Donations to PRAAC are accepted all year through the Canadahelps.org website, or cheques and cash can be dropped off at Royal LePage County Realty at 4819-49 St in Athabasca.
More information about THRIVE can be found at https://www.hfhf.ca/programs/thrive or by calling 780-519-0577.
“We just want the community to know that the need is still out there and we're going to try to be creative. We're going to look at it, and if we put the call out, please, please help,” Yurchak said. “We've got to keep this programming available for our community.”
