In 1982, a group of like-minded residents decided to make a difference in Sarnia-Lambton.
Upset with the lack of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and united in the aim of providing support for survivors as well as ending violence against women and children, the group planted the seed of what later became the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Center of Sarnia- Lambton.
For 40 years, the organization has provided programming, services and support for victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse and human trafficking, educated the community, and raised awareness about the prevalence of sexual assault in Sarina-Lambton as well as formed partnerships with other community groups.
Supporters, board members, as well as staff – both past and present – of the charitable organization gathered at Canatara Park’s Seaway Kiwanis Pavilion on Sept. 14 to hold their annual general meeting as well as mark the milestone anniversary.
Executive director Chantel Butterfield said while the organization has changed over the decades, it has never strayed from its original mission – to assist those in the community most in need.
“Originally it was a grassroots organization started by a group of dedicated volunteers,” she Butterfield said. “They went to bat and consulted with survivors to develop this organization with wraparound supports, which really was led by survivor voices. And that’s a mission that’s been consistent since then – we’re always consulting our survivors, we’re always embracing their voices so we can create change.”
The founding group was composed of volunteers, concerned citizens and survivors, she said. The agency was funded through grants as well as by donations, chocolate bar and bake sales as well as 50/50 draws. Provincial government funding came later.
“The biggest difference between now and then would be that it started as a volunteer-based organization and now we have seven paid staff, so it’s definitely grown and the people who paved the way for us did that,” Butterfield said.
The agency, its staff, its volunteers and partners provide services and programming for victims of sexual assault, human trafficking and sexual abuse.
“Our primary services are individual counseling – that’s one-on-one with a counselor – and most of our clients when they come for intake they’re assigned to a resource worker,” she said. “We do trauma processing and public education … Through preventative education and word-of-mouth advertisements and teaching people about consent and healthy relationships, we’ve increased awareness (of our services).”
Butterfield said the organization has helped numerous women, children and families. And in recent years, more individuals have accessed services than ever before.
“I can tell you just from two years ago to last year, we saw a 67 per cent increase in people seeking our services – our services doubled in just one year,” she said. “There isn’t a single reason for that, I think that our community is doing a much better job of raising awareness.”
Butterfield said the stigma around sexual violence still exist, but barriers are being torn down and people are accessing services “without fear”.
Looking ahead, Butterfield said the agency will continue listening to survivors and providing more awareness-building events throughout the community.
“Moving forward, we hope to be more integrated into the education system. That’s been a really big shift – the board of education reached out to us and asked us to be a collaborative service partner, which is amazing – we’ve been working on that for 40 years, so that’s a really big change for us and we ‘re really excited about that.”
For more information about the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Center of Sarnia-Lambton, visit www.sexualassaultsarnia.ca .