Violence Prevention Grey Bruce is pleased to announce the hiring of Jon Farmer as its new coordinator. Farmer fills the vacancy left by Colleen Purdon who coordinated the committee for twenty years before retiring this fall. Violence Prevention Grey Bruce is the local domestic violence community coordinating committee and brings more than thirty community services and organizations together to share expertise, conduct research, and raise community awareness about violence in the twin counties. Violence Prevention Grey Bruce is part of a network of similar committees across the province funded in part by the Ministry of Community and Social Services.
Since 1997, Violence Prevention Grey Bruce has conducted original research, offered training for community groups and businesses, connected services, and addressed systemic barriers while also advocating for violence prevention and survivor services throughout Grey and Bruce counties.
Farmer was born and raised in Owen Sound but left the region to attend university in British Columbia. He has been working in the violence prevention field locally since returning in 2015, facilitates for the Men's Program's Partner Assault Response groups, helped to coordinate the recent Know Me(n) Better conference in Owen Sound, organized the 2016 Into the Open art workshops addressing sexual violence, and is a regular speaker with the Canadian Mental Health Association's youth education program.
"I'm excited to join this team in an official capacity," Farmer said. "There are so many organizations working hard to make this a safer and more supportive place to live and work and Violence Prevention Grey Bruce plays an important role connecting those people, and letting the community know what's going on". Farmer added that he plans to pay particular attention to making Violence Prevention Grey Bruce's work more visible and to engaging the wider public in conversations about violence prevention locally.
Farmer joins the committee at a busy time as Violence Prevention Grey Bruce is currently conducting Grey Bruce's first survey on sexual violence. All residents of Grey and Bruce counties are encouraged to complete the survey because sexual violence affects everyone, directly or indirectly. The survey is open until February 23rd, is available online and will help to inform the development of local services and policies.
To learn more about Violence Prevention Grey Bruce and to participate in the on-going survey about sexual violence, visit www.violencepreventiongreybruce.com and follow Violence Prevention Grey Bruce on Facebook.