Local Childhood Sexual Abuse Victim Lunches Support Group
By Dave Battagello
A Windsor woman who was the victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest in the late 1970s is set to open a local chapter of a global organization dedicated to helping others who suffered the same fate. Brenda Brunelle, who alleged she was abused by Rev. Michael Fallona, sued the church for $3 million three years ago and settled out of court in July. Now she wants to offer a venue for others to find support and heal. Brunelle has been given approval to open a Windsor chapter of the Survivours Network of those Abused by Priests — a Chicago-based organization founded in 1988. It has 60 chapters worldwide, mostly in the U.S. “I feel with my matter resolved, I wanted to give back in some way for all the support I received over the years,” she said. “There really is no place for survivors to gather and support one another despite the high number of complaints and allegations made against the church. “It would have been nice for me to have a support group to attend. I often wished there was such a group. As loving and supportive as my family and friends have been, it would have been nice to be with people who understood because they have walked the same walk.” Brunelle met with SNAP founder Barbara Blaine in October. The closest SNAP chapter is in Perrysburg, Ohio. “After meeting with her, I felt compelled to start a chapter in this area, Brunelle said. “There is clearly a need. There is still so many people who have remained silent with their story. This gives them a safe place to attend where they know they won’t be judged. A lot can be said for peer support.” No professionals will be on hand for the meetings, only victims supporting victims, Brunelle said. If those attending meetings require professional therapy or other support, they will be directed at the meetings. When the diocese of London was asked to comment on SNAP opening a local chapter in Windsor, a spokesman noted it has had a sexual abuse policy since 1989. It is updated regularly and the current version is available at www.dol.ca, Mark Adkinson said. “We are sorry for all of the hurt people have experienced as a result of sexual misconduct,” said Adkinson. “The diocese does offer counselling to all victims of sexual misconduct by clergy and we continue to work toward prevention of misconduct in the Catholic Church. “We encourage anyone who may have been harmed to come forward.” But Barbara Dorris, outreach director for SNAP, called it extremely important for the new chapter to be established in southwestern Ontario, given the growing number of reported Canadian child sexual abuse victims – not only by clergy, but teachers or scout leaders. She pointed to the explosive set of circumstances around Jerry Sandusky – the former long-time assistant football coach at Penn State University – as an example of how child predators have for too long been allowed to repeatedly offend because victims were too afraid to talk or turn to law enforcement for help. SNAP provides a venue where victims can not only turn for help and recover, but also gain enough strength to report a child predator, Dorris said. “Victims need to know they are not alone,” she said. “Once they find out they are not alone, they feel safer and gain power. It encourages them to step forward.” The organization’s greatest attribute is helping people heal by converting them from a “victim” of abuse to a “survivour” of abuse, Dorris said. “While that doesn’t sound overly important, it’s tremendously important,” she said.”After working with SNAP, victims often find their abuse is no longer the controlling part of their life. Taking back the power and feeling strong again is the most healing thing that SNAP does.” It is not only victims of clergy who are welcome to attend local SNAP meetings, but any victims of childhood sexual assault wherever that may have occurred, Dorris said. “Anybody who needs help should come,” she said. “Abuse has a pretty common denominator.” The first local SNAP meeting is scheduled for this Sunday at an undisclosed location. To better protect anonymity, the time and location will be revealed after registering with Brunelle to attend which can be done by calling her at 519-800-3492 or by email at Windsor@snapnetwork.org. “I’ve already received a lot of phone calls and I know people will be attending this Sunday,” she said. Meetings starting in the new year will be held on the second Sunday of every month.
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