BONNYVILLE – Bonnyville resident Jessie Heisler has been nominated by the Canadian Women's Foundation for the King’s Coronation medal. Heisler is the prevention and community engagement manager at the Dragonfly Counselling and Support Centre and has been recognized for her contributions to gender justice.
The Coronation medals are awarded to citizens who have made a difference in their communities. Heisler’s work has been done in sexual violence prevention within rural communities.
“It's quite an honour, and I would say not only to me personally but to the entire team at the centre, having that recognition of the vital work that we do to support survivors and educate communities,” said Heisler.
She admits she was very surprised to be nominated, not only because she is only 25 years old, but because of the rural nature of her work. The Dragonfly Centre covers a 60,000 square kilometer area, and Heisler says it's quite a large area to maintain a presence in.
The Dragonfly Centre described Heisler’s work as a pursuit to use education and empowerment to prevent sexual violence, while bringing light to survivors and creating a “ripple of hope and healing across underserved communities.”
“Jessie has transformed the way rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities in Alberta confront sexual violence. Through the Rural Response to Sexual Abuse Training, Jessie has empowered frontline staff to provide life-changing support to survivors in areas where help is often hard to find,” reads information from the Dragonfly Centre.
The Dragonfly Centre also has a Culture of Respect Program that has reached nearly 90 rural schools. The program initiates vital conversations surrounding healthy relationships, body safety, and digital safety.
“We run a lot of programs in schools,” said Heisler. “Giving kids the skills and the tools to have healthy relationships and additional safety.”
Heisler is not only a conduit for having difficult conversations with children but also teaches caregivers and professionals how to navigate these conversations as well.
“I see the need for evidence-based interventions, especially in rural gender-based violence preventions,” said Heisler.
Heisler runs behavioral and attitude surveys to determine what is actually occurring with children and youth at each school, and tailors her programs according to the data. Follow-up surveys are conducted to assess changes.
The surveys attempt to determine what kind of perpetration related attitudes or behaviours are happening, such as yelling, or shoving a friend or partner, so they can be responded to accordingly. This aims to prevent children who are struggling with interpersonal relationships from becoming perpetrators in the future. Some of the themes these surveys might highlight include communication strategies like apologies or consent.
“We've actually developed rural training for professionals around understanding sexual abuse, responding to sexual abuse, and supporting survivors from a rural lens, which is very different from an urban lens where there's many different organizations that someone can utilize,” said Heisler.
A major issue within rural responses to sexual violence, is that often the person responding to a disclosure of sexual violence - be it a police officer, medical practitioner, or crisis responder - may have personal ties to either the victim or the perpetrator. Providing education on professional conduct during a situation like this is one of the benefits of having a rural lens to sexual violence issues.
Heisler was born and raised in Bonnyville, and after completing a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, she returned to her hometown and applied for a job at the Dragonfly Centre.
Sexual violence awareness has always been a cause that Heisler has been passionate about, and during her time at university she volunteered at the women’s centre on campus.
“I came for the interview at Dragonfly and immediately really enjoyed this role and this incredible ability to be in that primary prevention field and potentially decrease experiences of violence, especially in rural communities that often don’t have resources like this,” said Heisler.
She said her biochemistry background has provided her with a helpful base of understanding surrounding trauma responses.
“One thing that I really walked away with from [my biochemistry degree] that I’ve incorporated quite a bit into the Rural Response Training is understanding how traumatic experiences change the way that our brain is working in the moment and activating that defense circuitry,” said Heisler.
She is currently enrolled at the University of Waterloo for her Masters in Public Health, and studies online while maintaining her position at the Dragonfly Centre.
“It’s kind of nice because you get to learn these concepts online, and then apply them in real time.”
Heisler hopes the nomination will highlight the importance and need for sexual violence programs in rural areas.
“We're hoping that it will help bring recognition to this really vital work that we're doing. Prevention and education programs for youth or caregivers, or capacity building with frontline professionals - seeing the value these programs are having through Alberta - could mean more grants to make sure that programs like these stay accessible,” said Heisler.