The Compassionate Friends of Southwestern Manitoba had their beginning in the
compassion one person had for the parent's of a young child who's life was cut
short by tragedy.
Karen Elves R.N. met young Jaquelyn
Dmyterko one Sunday along with her mother and sister. Before the
week was out, Jaquelyn, only 21 months old, died in Brandon, November 7,
1986, from head injuries caused by an abusive babysitter. Karen watched the mother of this child struggle with
her grief, and felt so helpless that she began to search for means of support.
She became aware of an
international organization called, The Compassionate
Friends, a grief support
group that evolved in England in 1967, spread throughout the USA and is now
networked through Canada. As a result of in depth research, she
recognized the need, and began the procedure of implementing a support group
in this area. The first
organizational meeting was held at Central Park Lodge on May 13, 1987 with
four advisory board members, three TCF national board members and fifteen
bereaved parents for a total of twenty-two in attendance.
As
the chapter evolved, the time came for Karen to step aside and to encourage
new leaders. Gwen Linski and Faye Neff graciously accepted their new
roles. They have worked tirelessly on behalf of this chapter and others,
TCF families and the community. As the need for more permanent space
became apparent Gwen's role expanded and she managed our office and
coordinated the volunteers. She soon became the heart and drive of our
chapter, many people both here and across the country have had their lives
touched by her compassion. Gwen has since moved on to become a member of
the National Board of TCF, and has served as the Provincial Director in
Manitoba, and is currently the Vice President of the National Board. We all join in celebrating her tremendous spirit, and the
courage she has shown in her own life is an inspiration to us all. We
have been lucky enough to keep Faye around here, and she has continued to be a
backbone of our Board of Directors, and an unfailing volunteer. She still works
with families in our chapter whose loss is new in a supportive role.
She is also involved with the Angel Memorial Program, started this year, with
the first annual memorial service being held on October 2nd, 2002. This
program provides a way for families who have lost a child through miscarriage
to memorialize and commemorate their child's life. An Angel monument has
been added to the Children's Memorial Garden at the Brandon Municipal
Cemetery, by the Regional Health Authority. Specially made bricks with the children's names inscribed on
them will carpet the area surrounding this beautiful tribute to the Angels who
have touched these family's lives however briefly.
Through
the years this chapter has continued to grow, through the tremendous support of
the volunteers, and the community. We have hosted 3 successful conferences, "Wrap
Myself in a Rainbow" in 1995, "Homecoming '97", and
our third conference, held in 2003 was entitled "Northern
Lights ~ Reflections of Healing".
