March 14, 2003 – When the 21st annual Women's Jogger Jam is run, walked, hopped or skipped Sunday on St. Thomas, it will be to help the same people — crime victims — as in years past, but this time a different agency is the beneficiary.
From the start, The Fruit Bowl sponsored the popular women's race as a fund raiser for V.I. Victim Advocates. The volunteer organization closed its doors in December.
"Being a volunteer for 22 years gets difficult," director Lynn Falkenthal said in announcing that she and six of the program's board members had decided to call it quits. The agency had struggled along without government assistance but did receive some funding from United Way of St. Thomas-St. John.
Falkenthal said as many as 5,000 victims of crime and sudden tragedy a year were guided through the reporting and recovery processes by volunteers on call 24 hours a day, every day. The 2002 figures were down, she said: a mere 3,000 calls for help. (See "Victim Advocates to cease services at year's end.)
St. Thomas's other well-known victim outreach agency, Family Resource Center, immediately stepped in to provide additional services when the Victim Advocate program closed, Michal Rhymer-Charles, FRC executive director, said Thursday. Based on activity so far, it will provide services to "well over a thousand victims" in its first year, she said.
"We have started classes for volunteers every Thursday at 5:30 p.m.," Rhymer-Charles said. The center's victim advocate program also is staffed entirely on a volunteer basis.
"We have to use volunteers," Rhymer-Charles said. "It's a 24-hour service. If we used our regular staff of 24, we would have some very dogged-looking social workers."
The training is rigorous — three hours a week for 14 weeks covering such things as crisis intervention and provisions of local and federal law regarding victims' rights. But Rhymer-Charles said there's a lot more.
Compassion is a component — to prepare advocates to relate to people in traumatic situations and in need of a helping hand. The advocates walk victims through court procedures, stay by their side in the emergency room, offer solace to homicide survivors, assist with emergency travel arrangements, help domestic violence victims to get a roof over their heads … The list goes on and on, Rhymer-Charles says.
The advocates perform a sort of "triage," she said — a medical term for setting priorities in terms of the urgency of needs and the availability of resources. "We go to see the victims if they need shelter or food, anything. We walk them through the rape kit and explain the procedure all the way through." The kit is used by medical personnel with the victim's permission to obtain evidence from the victim for use in identifying and prosecuting the perpetrator.
Sometimes the volunteers' outreach extends to helping the homeless or finding affordable air fares for victims to go off island.
Rhymer-Charles says Sunday's Jogger Jam financial support is greatly needed. The only funding now for the FRC victim advocate program is "a small grant, about $2,000," from the Law Enforcement Planning Commission, she said.
"We need every penny we can get," she said. "We could not do without the volunteers."
The new advocate training class that got under way on Thursday has eight members who come from a diversity of backgrounds, Rhymer-Charles said. "They range from 20 to 50. Some are retired, but most are full time workers."
Rhymer-Charles said she will be cheering the runners on at The Fruit Bowl on Sunday. "I wouldn't miss it — I'll be there," she said.
The two-mile run, which will get under way at 5 p.m., starts and ends at the produce store in Wheatley Shopping Center, where all the action takes place before and after the race. There will be water, watermelon slices, oranges, moral support and prizes, and the first 200 finishers will receive commemorative T-shirts.
The two-mile course leads over to Roy L. Schneider Hospital, back by Fortress Storage, around past Lockhart School and back to the hospital — and then once more around with verve for those who want to be counted as finishers. The Fruit Bowl donates $5 for every finisher to the cause.
In years past, the track has been lined with well-wishers and fans, mostly husbands and boyfriends, cheering the women on. Each year has brought out mothers pushing babes in buggies and folks pushing 70 or more on their own. Occasionally a man has shown up, only to be turned away with a sharp tsk.
Registration is $5 in advance and $10 just before the race. Those wanting to pre-register can do so at The Fruit Bowl, Players in Havensight Mall and Going Seanile in Royal Dane Mall.
For anyone needing assistance from Family Resource Center, the number to call is 776-7867 (776-stop). To sign up for victim advocate training, call 776-3966.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
