10/06/2026
Congratulations Samantha Burgess, Victim Advocate, Bon Secours Violence Response Team, recipient of the CDVTF's 8th annual Outstanding Service Award!
"A colleague of Samantha’s received a call from a former client who had just been assaulted again by the father of her child. The colleague had worked with this client for over a year, during which there were several domestic assault criminal cases and protective orders cases. The client had also spoken with Samantha Burgess, her victim advocate on the Bon Secours Violence Response Team, and was trying to get back to Chesterfield to be seen for her injuries, to include a strangulation exam. As is often the case, the client had a small window of time before her abuser was to be released on bond. She was two hours away, in a home owned by her abuser's family. Samantha worked tirelessly with her colleagues, developing a plan to get the client and her children to the hospital safely. Overcoming transportation hurdles, property ownership challenges, the cost of gas, lack of housing, leaving behind belongings, packing food, and the emotional struggle of splitting a family, Samantha worked doggedly to get this client and her kids to the hospital and into a safe place. When local housing wasn't available, Samantha used the vast network of the Bon Secours system to connect with allied professionals involved in the most recent assault, securing shelter and a support system for this client. Samantha was determined to support the client in leaving her abuser, no matter what struggles she had to face in doing so. When the client found herself in a new town without the support she had known in Chesterfield, Samantha's role as a hospital advocate was not bound by jurisdictional boundaries. She went above and beyond to get this client and her children into a safe home, where they are currently thriving."
