Hollyburn Specialized Victim Support offers a range of services to victims of intimate partner violence, family violence, and criminal harassment. The service aims to provide individual victims of power-based crimes with an understanding of how to increase personal safety, information and support in navigating the criminal justice system, information regarding other support services available to victims of violent crimes, and court preparation and accompaniment. Services are offered to individuals who reside on the North Shore or are attending North Vancouver Provincial Court.
Hollyburn continues to be a central member of the North Shore Intimate Partner Violence Unit (IPVU) which provides integrated services to the North Shore victims deemed at highest risk of lethality. Hollyburn Specialized Victim Support provides two embedded Victim Support Workers.
The Intensive Triage and Wraparound Support Program for Victims of Gender-Based Violence is a project that provides immediate therapeutic and triage support to under-represented women and girls who have experienced Gender-based violence. Clinical counselling is combined with support to access housing, income, education, emergency support, safety plans, medical support, and child supports.
Through our Accredited Justice Facility Dog Program, our program’s Accredited Facility Dog Queenie provides a healthy and positive distraction to overwhelming traumatic reactions and acts as a tool to assist individuals who struggle to communicate, particularly children or persons with disabilities.
In 2023, Hollyburn Community Service Society and Roots & Rivers Consulting completed a year-long community-engaged research project to identify gaps in services addressing gender-based violence, learn more about barriers to support service access, explore the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on gender-based violence, and explore how North Shore service providers can better
support BIPOC women+ who are at risk of or experiencing gender-based violence. This culminated in the publication of “A Call to Action: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on BIPOC Women+ on the North Shore” with seven identified Calls to Action. Click here to learn more about this project and read the report.