Dr. Peter Gregg (left) and Mark Jones, CEO for the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre. (Photo: rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Troy Gillard

Hundreds attend Courage Luncheon

Support vital for child abuse workers, survivor tells advocacy centre supporters

Dec 4, 2019 | 11:23 AM

More than 400 supporters gathered at the Holiday Inn at Gasoline Alley on Tuesday in support of the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre (CACAC).

The first-ever Courage Luncheon in support of the centre was highlighted by a powerful keynote speech from Dr. Peter Gregg, behavioural scientist and the author of Lost Boy Found, in which he shares how he was able to turn his life around after being sexually abused as a young boy.

He spoke Tuesday about the importance of supporting those who work with children who’ve been abused.

“These people on the frontlines, day in and day out, are doing some of the most stressful jobs in the world. And it doesn’t stop, its’ something they face every day,” Gregg explained. “We, as human beings, can only do this kind of thing for so long until we wear out or we ourselves become unuseful.”

The personal toll on those frontline workers, Gregg feels, is a huge issue that is not being addressed.

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“We have a crisis in this world of the social workers, particularly those in frontline positions, the only way that they can deal with it is to mask themselves off and go home and either self-medicate or create separation from their own families.”

”To have someone like Dr. Gregg work with us and talk about that stuff and bring it to the forefront, it really validates the work they are doing,” said Mark Jones, CEO for the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre.

Gregg had high praise for the work done by the CACAC and the team of professionals that is doing it. He also said seeing such a large group gather Tuesday to support them was incredible.

“When you get a group of four or five hundred people that are totally committed and willing to not only spend money but give their time and effort, it makes a huge difference. Then we can fill in for those heroes that need help and support.”

“The heroes are frontline service people, they see a lot of dark things on a daily basis,” added Jones. “But they come to that job with such enthusiasm and work together as a team, and I think that’s what keeps them grounded through some of that difficult work is that they are such a good, strong team.”

Since opening its doors two years ago, the CACAC has helped more than 800 abused children across central Alberta.

“People are starting to recognize that the centre exists and that we’re here to help kids,” said Jones.

“We’re chipping away at the tip of the iceberg,” Gregg noted.

“(In particular) abuse of boys is growing and is actually larger, as a social phenomenon around the world, than childhood abuse among girls. And yet boys don’t talk about it. So you’ve got this group of boys that are being brutalized then turned out into society where they in turn will brutalize others. There are millions of them, and the societal cost is immense.”

Meantime, Jones says work continues towards building a new home for the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre at the RDC Campus.

“We continue to work diligently and we’ve got lots of support. We’re just waiting for a couple of last minute decisions regarding partners for the building,” he said.

“We still in our heart of hearts would like to have that building started late this coming spring. We’ve worked really hard to get to where we are and I’m as confident as I’ve ever been.”