To the Editor:
Two weeks ago the Review announced the launch of a new area-wide program called “Change for Good”. Change for Good officially introduced itself with a meeting and film showing at Penticton’s Okanagan College campus on March 28. I was there. So were others from the Keremeos area. The program offers free counseling and support to men who are aware of their abusive behaviors to their partners or children, and who want to stop those behavior patterns. In a time when not all news is good, this is “good news”!
First, it’s good news that change is possible. Second, it’s good news that positive, supportive help is available. And third, it’s good news that you do not have to go to Penticton to benefit from the Change for Good service. It’s available right here in Keremeos, as well as alternative locations, beginning this month. For details, you can contact Rhea, the program’s coordinator, confidentially, at 250-488-5939 or at sos_change4good@yahoo.ca As coordinator of both RCMP Victim Services and the Lower Similkameen’s Proactive Violence Prevention Project (PVPP), I encourage men with abusive behaviors or tendencies to take advantage of this supportive program, both for your own well-being and for your family’s. And I encourage anyone who knows of a family member, friend, or acquaintance whose behavior is abusive or violent, to pass this information along to him, with your encouragement and support. It’s a good thing to do. And the right thing. It’s a way to “practice kindness”.
Ron Shonk, Keremeos