On May 15, 2012, twenty-five people from 11 organizations/agencies came together to explore the first steps in building a “Coordinated Community Response to Violence Against Women and Girls in Lunenburg County.”
We focused on our aspirations for the project and our fears. We unearthed an array of assumptions at play in this issue and charted some beginning principles for collaboration among partners - both organizations and individuals.
The notes you will find here is an impressive testament to the quality of discourse we created together, the openness to speak some of the hard realities, and the willingness to engage together in a possibility many of us are yearning for—the opportunity to really collaborate, to join together in addressing the issue of gender-based or relationship violence in new, uncharted and innovative ways. The depth and scope of the issues is huge, yet the sense of hope and possibility in the room was palpable. The successive pages capture the raw data from all the flip charts, sticky notes and sharing from group discussions.
If you take the time to read it all, you will be amazed at how much came forward in that short time. We could almost develop a plan from just that information, if we were not committed to first welcoming the broader public into the discourse. It is important as we move forward into the practical planning for 3 years and implementation, that we return to these pages for insight, reflection and remembering why we do this challenging work. It is the common core that unites us in this effort to bring peace to relationships, families, schools, and our communities in Lunenburg County. The need is great. Our capacities, talents and gifts as a community, are greater.