After another year of escalating caseloads, the Airdrie and District Victims Assistance Society (ADVAS) is again asking the community for support through its annual 1:1 campaign.
Conor Tapp, who works in fund development for the local charity, said ADVAS’s 1:1 campaign is a call to action in the lead up to the year's end. The campaign asks for donations of $74 per individual, which Tapp said is the dollar amount that goes into providing critical support services to one victim of crime or tragedy.
“It’s a time of year when most members of the community are reflecting on the year they've had,” Tapp said. “We’ve had Thanksgiving, we’re heading into Christmas and we’re thinking of the people in our lives who matter to us. It gives us the chance to think about the impact we’ve had together and think of all the folks who have made a donation or had a really important conversation with someone around them about the need for assistance.”
The campaign started in early November and will run until Dec. 16, Tapp said, though the messaging behind the campaign will continue through the holiday season and until the end of 2020.
“For us, it’s a natural fit because people are talking to one another and thinking about the things that matter and the values they hold,” he said. “It’s a timely conversation for us to be engaged with the community and talk about what it actually takes to deliver the assistance ADVAS provides.”
Having formed in 1992, ADVAS is a long-standing Airdrie charity. The organization works with other agencies like North Rocky View Community Links and Airdrie RCMP to provide support services to victims of crime or tragedy, particularly assault or domestic violence. According to ADVAS’ website, the society facilitates access to crisis intervention services, as well as follow-up consultations and court support throughout the entire legal process.
A press release from ADVAS stated the charity provided critical assistance in more than 4,300 cases in 2019 – a 56 per cent increase from the year prior and an 88 per cent increase compared to five years ago. More than 2,000 of the cases supported by ADVAS advocates and team members related to people who were facing domestic violence, the release stated, which is a 47 per cent increase from 2019.
Tapp said the rising caseloads each year is likely due to a variety of factors, including Airdrie’s population increase, a growing awareness of the charity and changes to ADVAS’ intake and referral system.
Like other non-profit organizations, ADVAS has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in various ways, Tapp said, such as a backlog in cases following the closure of provincial courts.
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“With our organization being like almost every other business, we did move to a remote delivery model for a period,” he said. “The main detachment was closed to non-essential people, so we did have a small cohort able to go into the detachment to work. But we continued delivering services 24/7 through the pandemic. In some cases, there was a modification to the way we delivered that service – we were doing it remotely through secure digital channels, or at a safe distance if we were in person.”
ADVAS expects to continue seeing increased caseload data for 2020, according to the press release, which said the charity aims to raise $74,000 from this year’s 1:1 campaign – enough to fund 1,000 cases. Tapp said ADVAS operates on a budget of approximately $300,000.
He said the charity is grateful for the support it has received from the community for nearly three decades.
“It’s been an incredibly challenging year for our community and the surrounding communities,” he said. “It’s been heartening to continue to have support and to hear some great conversations happening in the community around really important issues.
“To hear people engage in that conversation and to see real progress in the way those conversations are had among friends and families…is a really positive step. To see the public support the donations, it all makes a difference to organizations like ADVAS, Community Links and other community-serving organizations.”
To donate to the 1:1 campaign, email [email protected] or visit advas.ca/give
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
