Anyone who has been in the community for a while will be familiar with Pat Hamilton of Heartland Victim Services, who has been serving the community for almost 17 years now.
“I joined as a volunteer advocate 16.5 years ago, then took the position of program manager shortly after,” said Hamilton, who is training Sarah Eades, assistant program manager to get into her role someday.
Hamilton started with the victim services after reading about it as a new program here in Stettler in 1998.
“The first group of volunteers had just completed their training and the Unit was officially providing services to victims of crime and tragedy, and it sounded like something really interesting and worthwhile,” explained Hamilton. “It was a year after my application before the next group of volunteers were trained, so I officially started in Sept. 1999, besides I had volunteered with several other organizations before then, and felt that I really wanted something different, to get away from constant fundraising.”
Yet, once Hamilton got into victim services she found out that a large part of their time was dedicated to coming up with new ways to raise funds.
“Now we are expected to do local fundraising, but the majority of our funding comes from the Victims of Crime fund here in Alberta, funds that are generated strictly by surcharges on provincial and criminal code offences,” said Hamilton.
But when asked what keeps her going, she said, “The part of my role I find most attractive is the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, to provide assistance and support when they think that things couldn’t possibly get any worse for them.” In Stettler, that is usually when they are dealing with sudden deaths, suicides or serious motor vehicle collisions.
“The other part of my role I truly enjoy is the court support for victims and witnesses, especially when we have trials involving several witnesses,” added Hamilton. “It’s a challenge but we also try to make the experience as painless and as humorous as possible for our clients.”
Hamilton said that one of the biggest challenges they face regularly is finding competent, willing and enthusiastic volunteers, both for the board and as front line advocates.
“While there isn’t a lot of training for board (members), a criminal records check is required,” said Hamilton. “However, for advocates, there is extensive on-line training required as well as the RCMP security clearance, so we do lose some people through this process, but the training is very practical, provides a solid crisis intervention model and is good for people going into any human services field.”
The training is also certified by Solicitor General’s Department here in Alberta.
But Hamilton added that anyone applying to be an advocate should know that there is a time and mental commitment required, though they are very flexible with scheduling. “We would love to see people of both sexes and all ages apply, and we can work around job and family commitments,” said Hamilton.
One of the ways they try to overcome this challenge is by constantly recruiting new volunteers, but often competing with other organizations in town who also require volunteers to keep operating, it can be difficult.
“We know we have a huge impact on people’s lives, we know our services have been appreciated when we see thank you notices in the paper, or we receive thank you cards or donations, and even a few times over the years when we have received flowers,” continued Hamilton. “These have been from families impacted by homicides, sudden deaths, impaired causing death, sexual assaults and domestic violence, and we really know we made a difference when someone leaves an abusive relationship, and then manages to stay away from that relationship and move on with their lives.”
But Hamilton feels they aren’t doing enough to raise awareness.
“We must not be doing enough to raise awareness about victim services in Stettler, because we still meet a lot of new clients who have never heard of us before their particular incident that we become involved with,” said Hamilton.
“However, we periodically advertise for new volunteers, have had print and radio media campaigns over the years, have had a booth at the trade show, have held various fundraising activities for victim services, including golf tournaments, motor bike rallies, regimental balls, Grey Cup pool tickets and this year we are going to hold our first Oktoberfest, with dinner, dancing and beer tasting.”
Last year as part of Victims of Crime Awareness week, there was a speaker from Phoenix, Arizona who spoke to the middle and high schools on dating violence.
“This woman had lost her daughter to an ex-boyfriend, so was well qualified to do presentations on the dangers of dating violence as well as discussing the elements of healthy dating relationships,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton said that some parts of her job that have been upbeat so far are the great training opportunities that she has had, including conferences in different places across the province, and in Ottawa two years ago.
Some of these conferences are specific to Victim Services, but others include domestic violence, victims of homicide, Critical Incident Stress Management and suicide intervention.
“Another upside has been the opportunity to work with so many wonderful volunteers over the years, and to have so much fun working with them,” added Hamilton. “We try to incorporate social activities into our program as well as to show continual appreciation to our volunteers.”
Heartland Victim Services is updating their social media platforms, and will be spreading awareness about the services they provide through social media channels, such as Facebook and Instagram among others.
Their Facebook page is under Heartland Victim Services – Stettler and the Instagram handle is @heartlandvictimservices.