Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Lennox and Addington Interval House has revamped its Child Witness Programs with plans to re-launch soon.
Designed to support children and women whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence, the program entered a brief hiatus for the last two years.
“I’ve just re-building the old program with new research,” said Liz Williams, who will facilitate the program. “The whole point of the program is to connect with women and children who have been exposed to or could be exposed to domestic violence. We’re working to rebuild connections between moms and their kids and help them understand what domestic violence is, what it looks like, how it impacts them.”
Williams holds an advanced Child and Youth Worker diploma from Algonquin College and completed her Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth care at Ryerson University. She says she has updated the previous program to make it more modern.
“We just want to make a safe space for moms and children to work through and understand what they’ve gone through, the emotions that they’re having,” she said of the program.
Meetings will start with moms and their kids in the same group before breaking off into separate groups for the adults and kids.
Open to any moms and their children in the community, the program is expected to restart in the coming weeks. For now Williams is reaching out to the community to let people know about it and encouraging people to register by contacting LAIHCW@Kingston.net. Though the program is facilitated through Lennox and Addington Interval House, those who take part do not have to be within the care of the women’s shelter. The location of the meetings is yet to be determined.
The need for the program is evident by the statistics that say more than 26 per cent of all violent crimes are related to family violence and 65 per cent of that is against girls and women-and that’s only what gets reported. Often times those involved in the situation will feel as though they have nowhere to turn, which is where the program comes in. Those that take part can be referred from an agency or social worker or they can sign up on their own. More details on the date and location will be announced soon. For more information, or to support Interval House, visit www.IntervalHouseNapanee.ca.