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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-05-20, Page 51Corr�mu pity News St. Peter's Catholic Women's League (CWL) executive for 1987-88 was recently installed. Back left is Diane Brenner, president elect, Jane Kerr, president. Front row, left, Helga Wiltzfeld, treasurer and Sandra Leddy, secretary. Missing from the picture is Karen Wade, second vice and Leslie Lassaline, third vice.(photo by Yvette Zandbergen.) DECA.motivates marketing from page 1 Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Penn- sylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginaia. In June, the national DECA executive will meet at the .organizations national of- fice in Reston, Virginia and the 15 national officers will meet with American Presi- dent, Ronald Reagan and the Congres- sional Advisory Board, a group of senators and congressmen, who work with DECA members in an advisory capacity. As a national executive member, Tim ,will also be travelling to New York City, New Jersey, Salt Lake City, Toronto and ' Hawaii in the next year. His rise to the national executive level within DECA has been meteoric and im- pressive considering the rigid qualifica- tions and screening procedure employed Family ly violence • from page lA For example, 75 per cent of men who abuse their wives saw abuse between their parents, while sons of batterers are 100 per cent more likely to batter their wives. With respect to child abuse, Brown- Brunton presented, the following statistics for the audience to think about: 2,000 to 3,000 children are abused in Ontario each' year; deaths attributed to child abuse in estimated at five each year; one in 10 children suffers from severe physical in- jury before the age of 16; one in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually abused by the time they reach the age of 18. "Abuse is a difficult community issue. We believe it is widespread. It is not con- fined to urban areas. Abuse is alive as much in Huron County as it is in the urban areas. It is among all cultural, educa- tional and social -economic groups," she said. ' Brown -Brunton noted it is each in- dividual's responsibility to report suspected child abuse to FCS. "Every citizen in Ontario does have a responsibility in the area of child abuse. It is their duty to report suspected abuse when they believe that there are reasonable grounds a child is being abus- ed. Professionals (such as nurses, social workers, doctors and day care workers) have a greater responsibility to contact FCS," she said. , When calling. FCS regarding abuse, the caller can make an annonymous call. However, if the caller does leave his name, it is not released. - "If you have concerns but you are not sure if it is an abusive situation, we en- courage you to call and talk to someone versed in the area who can help you understand the situati6n. Abuse is occurr- ing a great deal in this community as it is throughout Ontario," she said: Brown -Brunton noted with respect to . violence, that since it is a learned behaviour, it can be changed. Social workers can see the family and help the parents learn different ways of dealing with situations that bring about violence. She also noted a number of other alter- natives in dealing with family violence and child abuse. These include individual counselling, working with the family group, art and play therapy, peer support groups, camp programs, and other sup- port groups such as Childreach and Step - teen, "Because of the distances in Huron County, we are not doing as well as we would like to with treatment programs. We would like to see more porgrams in the county since violence is a serious situation and there is need for some remediation." GROUP DELTA One in five women are abused. Thirty to 60 per cent of female homicides occur in a family context. Eighteen per cent of Canadians believe it is okay for a man to hit his wife. Seventy-five per cent of all. family violence is wife assault. These shocking statistics were presented at the seminar by Merle ' Thomas, a Group Delta leader. Group Delta, formed in September of 1984 and funded throught the Ministry of Community and Social Services, is a week- ly support group for men who batter their wives. The program teaches the man dif- ferent methods of how to diffuse a poten- tially dangerous situation which might by the organization. And it is also a costly venture, but one that has been generously supported by Goderich businessmen. "Eleven businesses in Goderich have sponsored me and they were just so generous that you wouldn't believe it," Tim said. Tim's success within DECA adds credence to . his ebullient, 'confident per- sonality and his exemplary work ethic. His is a work ethic that belies the fun -loving image of college students and transcends the mundane, short sightedness of many people his age. "What I do now is simply an.investment for the future," he explained exuding his usual confidence. "What you set your mind to, you can achieve." And no dobut, he will. not swept under lead him to battering his wife. Men hear about and join the program through various resources. "Unfortunately, the men don't come to the group until a crisis situation develops" such as the woman leaving the home or a court appearance, said Thomas. Once the man contacts the program through the Huron Perth Centre, an assessment of the type of abuse committed by him is undertaken. The man is then in- vited to attend one meeting after which he decides whether to continue with the pro- gram. If his decision is. 'yes', then he is sked to sign a contract for 12 weeks. If he c nnot attend a • meeting., he is asked to contact a group leader. Only two sessions can be missed. "We encourage the man to sign another 12 week session," she said. Thomas noted the meetings are strictly confidential since she, and other group leaders, want the men to feel comfortable attending the meeting and talking about their violence. Stressed in the program is the fact that violent behaviour is not acceptable. "There is no reason whatsoever for a man to be violent towards his wife. There are no excuses. A woman sets the ground rules and it is the man's responsibility to realize this," she said. "It's okay to get angry but it's what the man does with that anger that is important." Thomas explained men batter for any number of reasons. "It is learned behaviour, poor self-esteen, stress or to portray a macho image" that ,battering occurs. According to Thomas, about 80 men have gone through the program since its inception three years ago. The success rate is estimated at two-thirds, which means two-thirds of the total number of men who have attended the program have refrained from violence completely. The other one-third return to violence periodically. "It is up to the community to let people know that violence is not acceptable and' that there are alternatives out there," Thomas said. Group belta is one of only 20 groups for male batterers in Canada. LOCAL SHELTER Locally, the Survival Through Friend- ship House provides a temporary place of safety for women and children from fami- ly violence, explained Jean Taylor, ex- ecutive director of the houSe. Taylor noted 90 per cent of women who come to the house have usually been hit over 30 separate times. She noted the oldest woman to have come to the house was 73 -years -old while the youngest was 16. The home has a 24-hour telephone line for information and crisis calls. Ac- comodation and meals for a period of up to six weeks is provided as is informal counselling and support to enable women to find direction in their.lives. The house also provides referral to agencies such as Legal Aid and Community and Social Ser- vices, and court support. Child care workers are also at the house to help children cope with the new problems. The house also helps the woman find shelter and set up a home when she leaves. They will provide furnishings and food if needed. "All we ask is that the woman let the -man know in some way where she and the children are" when they come to the house, Taylor said. Victoria UCS holds meting Myrtle Kerr and Ruth Frieland served a delicious dessert to 18 ladies of Unit Two of Victoria Street UCW on Wednesday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting opened with Leona McBride welcoming all and a reading on "What is a grandmother". She then read the story of how the song "The Little Brown Church in the Vale" came to be an ever popular song. The group then' sang the song and were divided into two groups. Mary Curren was in charge of the devo- tions. SHe had an array of various kinds of baskets filled with flowers and other things and talked about baskets in the Bible. Her scripture was from John 6. Last Sunday be- ing Mother's Day, Mary read three different stories about mother's. The minutes were read by the secretary, Dove Horton and the roll call was answered with good advice your mother gave you. Velma Linfield gave the treasurer's report and there were 93 hospital and 14 home calls made during the month. Plans were made for the spring flower tea and bake sale. The June meeting is to be held at Harbour Park on June 10 at 12:30 noon with a picnic lunch to begin at 1 sharp. Helen Edith Elliot will have a short devotion and the program is to include a Chinese Auction. Bring your own dishes. Tea provided. • Anne Smith was in charge of the program. Pat Carter sang "Evergreen" and "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" accom- panied, by Leona McBride at the piano. Anne's talk was on surrogate mothers and the events that are taking place on TV with the evangelists. Winnifred Girvin donated two beautiful mum plants which were won by Beulah Good. The meeting . closed with a short prayer by the leader. GODERIC'H SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1987— PAGE 3A LAKESHORE EROSION CONTROL SYSTEMS Installing Gabian Baskets •C�roin� •kE't<r1Him.; •Star)(' kip -kat Division of Lake Huron Farm Drainage John MViaii.' ncl .hive 519-529-7510 hxr)ing 519,529-70 36 Donations Wanted to help make our anneal EI REWORKS 1ISPIAY bigger and better! Cheques payable to Goderich Fireworks Fund. Cheques or cash may be forwarded to: Chief of Police Pat King - Fireworks Chairman, Goderich Police Station, 65 West Street, Goderich N7A 2K5 or drop- ped off at the station; or you may drop them off at the Town Hall, 57 West Street, Goderich, Ontario, N7A 21(5. 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