Unique mentorship program connects sexual assault survivors

“One on one support works. That’s all there is to it.”

That is what Jeanine Spring had to say regarding the Muskoka Parry Sound Sexual Assault Services (MPSSAS) new Peer Mentorship Survivor to Survivor program. A plaque presentation and open house took place at The Hub at 1 Crescent Street yesterday afternoon. The new program, which received a one-year seed grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), aims to provide women who have suffered sexual assault with personal support from other survivors. An open house and plaque presentation took place to acknowledge the benefits the program will have for local women who have faced the trauma of sexual assault.

Spring, who’s coordinating MPSSAS’s Survivor to Survivor program, stated that the idea behind it is not only to provide an outlet and support to women who have been the victims of sexual assault, but to heighten awareness on the issue of sexual violence as well. Often, survivors are left feeling isolated and alone and like they can’t talk about the trauma they’ve endured. The Survivor to Survivor program changes that because now women will be able to receive mentorship and encouragement from other women who have been in their shoes.

Lauren Power, executive director of Muskoka Parry Sound Sexual Assault Services, proudly holds a recognition plaque the agency received for a new mentorship program that will bring local sexual assault victims together.

Mentors-in-training were in attendance on Friday afternoon as well as program facilitators and members of the OTF who believed in the importance of the program and helped make the $53,000 grant possible.

“This is huge,” Spring said. “Women no longer have to travel to Bracebridge where the district office is or Parry Sound. We have a local location where women who are struggling with the trauma of sexual assault can connect.”

MPSSAS executive director Lauren Power thanked the OTF for believing in the agency and providing the staff with “resilient, thriving survivors.”

“It’s an experience that nobody asks for, didn’t want but it happened. These are women who are thriving in their lives, they’ve experienced sexual assault… that’s just a small blip in who they are. I want to mark the courage, strength and resilience in moving on and thriving in life. This program recognizes that strength. It recognizes that resilience and enables women to give back to other survivors.”

The OTF is an agency of the Government of Ontario that receives funding from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport and awards nearly 1,000 grants to non-profit groups across the province every year.

Town councillor Jonathon Wiebe told a touching story of a friend confiding in him about being sexually assaulted.

Sue Morris, chair of the grant review team for the OTF, told attendees at yesterday’s launch that the Foundation is proud to support the organization and recognizes its importance in developing a strong awareness that sexual violence is a community issue.

“It’s an initiative that will help women who are isolated to have connections in the community through peer support,” said Morris. “It goes a long way in helping them receive the support they need locally as well as providing a range of services required to meet the individual needs of survivors now and in the future. It’s an important program and we look forward to hearing more about it.”

Huntsville town councillor Jonathon Wiebe congratulated MPSSAS for recognizing there was a need for such a service and extended best wishes to the future of program.

“To have a program like this shows that it [MPSSAS] tapped into what’s truly needed at this point among so many other things,” he said.

MPSSAS is a feminist organization dedicated to positively affecting societal attitudes in order to end sexual violence by offering a range of services. The agency provides crisis and long-term counselling for women, as well as public education, advocacy and accompaniment. For more information, visit www.mpssas.com.