The Third Anniversary of Val’s Death

It’s been three years since Val’s death, and many of us still think of her every day. Thinking of her evokes conflicting emotions: We feel grateful that we knew her, we feel sorrow for her death, we feel sympathy the family that still feels her loss every day, and we feel anger because the people in the agencies responsible for her death have not taken responsibility. The official inquiries did not bring about justice for Val or changes in the system she worked in. Her family members are left to carry on the fight themselves through the legal system. This responsibility should not fall on their shoulders. They should be able to grieve in peace, knowing that our government and its agencies are doing their best to establish responsibility for Val’s death and ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen to someone else. Unfortunately, that is not the case. This anniversary should be at time for all of us to grieve quietly, and remember the many wonderful things about Val: her laugh, her smile, her generosity, her curiosity, and her friendship. Instead, our memories are tainted with outrage that so little has been done, and fear that before the system is fixed, another family will lose a loved one.

2013 Valerie Wolski Memorial Golf Tournament, July 16

Canadian Mental Health’s Valerie Wolski Memorial Golf Tournament is coming up on July 16 in Camrose. Registration begins at 11:30 with a shotgun start at 1:00. Call (780)672-2570 to register.

Not a golfer? Would you like to volunteer? Please contact the above number.

Thanks to the Donors!

We were moved to receive a note from Maxine Overacker, the aunt of David Shantz, the Augustana student who was recently awarded the first annual Valerie Wolski Memorial Award. Ms Overacker visited this website and wrote,
“After reading comments about Valerie and the person she was, I know she would be happy David was chosen to be a recipient of this scholarship. I have made a $1000.00 donation to the scholarship fund in memory of Valerie Wolski.” We are very grateful for her generous donation.

We thank, too, the many, many other donors who have made this scholarship possible. There are too many to name, but they include Val’s husband Craig Wolski, her parents-in-law Eugen and Rita Wolski, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Millet Lions Club, Camrose Animal Clinic, Camrose Totem, Dave Chamberlin (Sun-Life Financial), as well as dozens of people–some who knew Val, and some who didn’t–who were touched by Val’s spirit in life, or moved by the story of her death.

In just a year, we have raised over $25000 to establish the Valerie Wolski Memorial Award. This endowment fund guarantees that each year, in perpetuity, an Augustana student will receive $1000 to help with university studies.

Our goal is to raise $4000 more, to bring the endowment fund to $30000 and enable us to increase the annual award to $1250. If you haven’t yet donated to the fund, we would appreciate it if you would consider making a donation. If you gave after Val’s death and would like to continue to help, please consider making a second donation or a five-year pledge for annual giving. And if you’ve already donated as much as you can, we do thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your part in the success of this fund. We are pleased to know that Val’s name and spirit will live on at Augustana, thanks to you!

PDD Appeal Hearing Update, 2

The PDD appeal began today in Edmonton, in an undisclosed location.

We are pleased to see coverage of this hearing (or, more accurately, lack of information about the hearing) in the Edmonton Journal and by CBC Edmonton today. Both news agencies attempted to attend the hearing. (Click the NEWS tab above to read this week’s articles and editorials).

Please consider writing a letter to the editor of the Journal to let the paper know people are following this case and looking for answers.

PDD Appeal Hearing Update

From what we understand, the requests of Val’s family and friends to attend the upcoming PDD appeal hearing are being denied. We are hopeful that OH&S is making the best decision in the context of its long-term investigation into Val’s death. In the meantime, those who wish to take action can continue to write to their MLAs and local newspapers. (See the post “A Time for Advocacy” for more on this.

A Time for Advocacy

This past year has been a time to mourn Val’s death. And while the grieving is not over, the time has now come to advocate for changes to be made as a result of her death.

Last summer, we learned that staff in the government department responsible for people with developmental disabilities (PDD) knew that Terrence Saddleback was violent and posed a risk to women. They didn’t pass that information on to Val or her boss.

As a result of its investigation into Val’s death, Occupational Health and Safety ordered PDD to change its safety practices in the region in which the paperwork regarding Terrence Saddleback was held (only one of six PPD regions in the province).

This week we learned that PDD is appealing that order from OH&S. According to PDD, the grounds for the appeal are “confidential”; however, it appears that the appeal is an attempt by PDD to avoid blame in Val’s death and–most frighteningly–to avoid implementing changes that would prevent something similar from happening to other healthcare workers.

In today’s editorial about this week’s news, Paula Simons rightly asks why PDD would be unwilling to implement practices that would keep workers safe.

The appeal hearing will take place from February 29 – March 1 in Edmonton. We ask you–whether you knew Val personally or whether you simply want to ensure that what happened to her doesn’t happen to others–to contact government officials, urging them to

a) press for responsibility to be assigned in the bureaucratic communication failure that led to Val’s death

b) require PDD to make necessary changes in policies and procedures to ensure that what happened to Val doesn’t happen again.

We can’t let this happen again to someone else’s wife, sister, or daughter.

The minister in charge of Occupational Health and Safety is the Honourable Dave Hancock. The minster in charge of the Persons with Developmental Disabilities program is the Honourable George VanderBurg. Click here for their addresses or to view a sample letter that you can use or adapt. You might also want to contact your local MLA.

Update 9

An update on our fundraising: We are pleased that we are getting close to raising the $25000 necessary to initiate an endowment fund. However, in the meantime, we want this award to begin this fall. To do so, we’ve set up a special mini-fund. We need $1000 to give a student an award in the 2011-2012 school year.

If you’ve thought of donating but haven’t gotten around to it yet, we could use your help now. Your donation will go straight to an Augustana student this fall. Follow the link to donate online, and specify that the donation is for the 2011 Wolski Award. Thank you!

Donations are also still being accepted for the endowment fund, of course, if you would prefer to donate to that.