MELFORT — This year’s Walk a Mile in Her Shoes honoured three people who had died in the last year that made a lot of effort to help those affected by domestic violence.
Connie Reimer had worked alongside the North East Outreach and Support Services for 26 years as a personal violence counsellor, Louise Schweitzer, the executive director, told the crowd of 80 walkers at the May 3 event.
She worked tirelessly for awareness and prevention of domestic violence in the Northeast,” she said. “Connie assisted thousands of women and children in their journey through domestic violence. Connie was a true gift to all who worked with her.”
Reimer will have an outreach room in the outreach department named after her.
Denise Leanne MacGregor has only worked with North East Outreach for 18 months, but had formed a bond and a friendship with the rest of the staff during that time.
“She left an indelible mark on all whom she came in contact with. Denise joined our team as a term shelter manager and moved into the early years worker position at the end of her term,” Schweitzer said. “She was a definite enhancement to our team and a gift to us all.”
MacGregor will have a soft intake room in the shelter named after her, with a stained glass piece commissioned in her honour for that room.
Kevin Phillips, former mayor of Melfort and MLA, promoted the domestic violence shelter in the Northeast in the legislature.
Mark Docherty, the speaker of the Legislative Assembly, was assigned as a seatmate for Phillips in 2011, where they became fast friends. He told The Recorder he was here to support Phillips’ passion for the shelter.
“He championed this to his legislative colleagues, to whoever would listen,” he said. “I think he was fundamental in making sure that this issue was front and centre to a number of people in the legislature.”
Docherty remembered how devastated Phillips was when the shelter burnt down during construction and how determined he was to get construction started again.
Phillips will have the boardroom named after him. April Phillips, Kevin’s wife, said her family was grateful for the gesture.
“If Kevin could, he would tell you this walk is not about him. This walk is about bringing awareness to domestic violence. He would say that this walk is about courage, strength, blisters, healing and hope,” she said. “Mostly it’s about hope. It’s about the hope that one day we won’t have to build shelters, that everyone would feel safe and secure in their own home.”
Todd Goudy, the MLA for Melfort, said it was because people had a vision to have a domestic violence shelter in Melfort that the Northeast has one today.
“In being the MLA following Kevin, walking in his shoes, this is a big part of that. Seeing all of the things he’s done, in lives of people across our constituency, this is one of the greatest legacies that he’s left behind,” adding later that he championed the cause but was part of a team that made the shelter possible. “I’m just honoured to be part of what he started.”
