Tim L
Donairs are the ultimate fat pill and one that I inhaled while sitting down and talking to Jessica Montgomery-Snow last week at Swiss Donair on the city’s north side. The wife and mother of one met me at the aforementioned local donair shop and gave me the skinny on who she is and what makes her tick.
TL- So Jessica, you grew up in Edmonton, eh?
JM-Yeah right now we live over in Matt Berry, but growing up it was in Bannerman and then over by Hermitage. I’d say my favorite neighborhood in the city is Highlands though. I really like all those historic houses and the mature trees are pretty amazing.
TL- Agreed. Highlands is a nice neighborhood, my dad grew up around there when he was a kid. What’s your favorite part about living in Edmonton?
JM- One of my favorite things is the festivals. We are a festival city and people should go and check them out! People all know about the Fringe and those big ones but people should even visit the small ones nobody is really aware of like The Works festival. It’s one of my favorites, it showcases art and and has live bands and stuff like that.
TL- Any hidden gems you know about? 39 years here you must know a couple…
JM- Yeah actually the Northeast River Park but I think it’s getting a new name. There is never anyone there but it’s beautiful. It reminds me of Beetlejuice with all the covered bridges. We’ll take our dog for a walk there and it also has this amazing playground. I think people just don’t know about it or something.
TL- I’ll have to check that out…I ride my bike past there all the time and i know what you mean about there never being many people there, I’ll have to explore it a bit more. Okay so you chose the Jessica Martel Foundation for donations to go to for the next couple of months…you actually work for the foundation, correct?
JM- I do! I’m the Senior Manager of Community Impact and Education, so I oversee our public education and advocacy, and communications and marketing. My personal goal with this is to work towards our vision of a future free of domestic violence.
TL- Wow, impressive. So can you tell us what the Foundation is all about?
JM- Yeah for sure, the Jessica Martel Foundation’s aim is to assist victims of domestic violence and give them a safe place if they need it. The foundation was founded in 2012 after a really tragic situation in Morinville where Jessica Martel unfortunately lost her life in the midst of trying to leave an abusive relationship. Soon after, her mother Lynn and a group of women basically founded the organization around her kitchen table to preserve her daughter’s memory and become a safe place for people that Jessica couldn’t find in her own community.
TL- Yeah it’s unfortunate the number of women in abusive relationships and even worse if they have nowhere else to turn.
JM- There’s a lot of stigma around abuse and I found that to be the most unexpected thing. We actually push back against outdated terms like women’s shelters and we support men and members of the LGBTQ community as well.
TL- So true, people sometimes don’t think that men can be on the other side of abuse as well. What do people need to know if they are thinking about leaving an abusive relationship?
JM- Just that we have an outreach program too which will help build a safety plan and conduct a danger assessment. We can make sure the transition is safe for the person who’s leaving domestic violence because our history has shown us that this is the most dangerous time for them.
TL- Thanks very much Jessica! for anyone that needs to or is interested in a bit more information please visit their site at http://www.jessicamartelmemorialfoundation.com.
