Nov. 04 :: find out more...
MISSION STATEMENT
Create awareness in our youth that ONE-ACT of violence can take lives and challenge the future of all family units and our communities at large.
1242 Millview Drive SW
Calgary, AB
T2Y 2X6
Phone: (403) 271.2191
Email : karen@devinfoundation.com
Diligently
Ending
Violence
In
Neighbourhoods
The DEVIN Foundation was established in May 2004 in memory of our son and brother Devin Venables who died after ONE-PUNCH in an altercation he walked away from. Devin’s death was so tragic for our family but we knew after the first year of grief and desperation we must turn his death into something positive and productive. We never thought that violence would invade our seemingly “normal” family. But, we experienced first hand that violence has permeated every level of our society. The trauma that families endure from an act of violence is devastating and the loss is far reaching. It affects not only the victim’s family. It also affects the offender’s family, and whole communities.
We have since created the DEVIN Foundation which is an acronym for Diligently Ending Violence In Neighborhoods (DEVIN).
The goal that we have for our foundation is to bring awareness to the youth of our city, province and country how ONE-ACT, ONE DECISION can affect so many lives.
Karen’s goal is to bring my story to as many groups of junior high and high school students as possible. The presentation includes a 35-minute talk that covers our experience of the night Devin died and the continued long struggle to work through our grief as a family and turn a tragic event into a lesson that all youth can learn from. In November of 2004 our family also had to endure the trial of the accused young man who threw that fateful punch two years earlier. I will relay to the students my personal experience of attending that trial each day for 9 long days and how the guilty verdict of manslaughter has affected me as a mother and a victim of violence. I also update the students on how the on-going connection to the convicted impacts our lives everyday as we attend parole hearings and appeal trials.