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Inspiration Awards show Red Deer agency and Lacombe woman are on right track

A Lacombe woman and Red Deer agency received provincial recognition for their work fighting sexual violence.
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Community and Social Services Minister Irfan Sabir (left) presents Lacombe’s Shalea Harder-Mah with an Inspiration Award Wednesday. (Contributed photo)

A Lacombe woman and Red Deer agency received provincial recognition for their work fighting sexual violence.

Shalea Harder-Mah, 22, received the Inspiration Award for Emerging Excellence Wednesday at Government House in Edmonton.

Nine Inspiration Awards were presented to individuals and groups who demonstrated excellence in areas such as preventing family violence, sexual violence, child abuse and bullying.

Harder-Mah, a student at RDC and the University of Calgary, is a Central Alberta Sexual Assault Support Centre (CASASC) volunteer, educator and Sexual Assault Response Team member.

She also founded and manages the RDC Sexual Wellness, Empowerment, Respect and Violence Education group (SWERVE), and is on the RDC Sexual Violence Policy task force.

Harder-Mah, a survivor of sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse, said receiving the award was an honour.

“It makes me feel like I’m making a difference,” Harder-Mah said. “I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I did … and it hits really close to home, to make a difference in my area and give back to those who helped me.”

The CASASC received an Inspiration Award for Leadership in Sexual Violence Prevention Wednesday.

Sarah Maetche, CASASC administrative assistant, said the award means a lot to the agency.

“We’re very pleased to receive provincial award on this level,” Maetche said. “It shows we’re on the right track with all the programs we’ve been doing and with our IRespect campaign. We can tell it’s having a positive impact in the community.”

Moving forward, the centre will continue its IRespect campaign and set its sights on moving into a new building on Red Deer College’s campus.

“It will give us some added space, which we desperately need,” Maetche said. “From there we’ll be able to expand our services and reach more people with enhanced programming.”

The building is a partnership between CASASC and the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre. The goal is to open the $8-million building in 2020.

Other award recipients include the Dr. Margaret Savage Crisis Centre in Cold Lake, the Best Buddies program at Cold Lake High School and Fossey, a service dog at the Zebra Child Protection Centre in Edmonton.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

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Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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