As you all know, 2020 has been a trying year for everyone: navigating the pandemic, the constantly changing protocols, lockdowns, fear of the unknown and missing carefree, good times getting together with friends and family. But, with the pandemic came a brand new kind of fear for those who live in an already tenuous situation of power, control and abuse. Lockdown, limited access to supports and no way to break free from her abuser, any woman who lives in an abusive home was trapped in her worst nightmare. Women's shelters across the world, including Women's House Serving Bruce & Grey (WHSBG), have seen record breaking calls and need for support for women and children in these situations, and we've stepped up to help them in any way we can.

We in Bruce and Grey counties have managed to keep COVID numbers low, but our domestic abuse statistics compare closely to the rest of Canada. And with back-to-school, the cooler weather, staying inside more, and holiday and family or friend gatherings, the pandemic cases are on the rise again. And with that, another lockdown. We, at Women’s House want to reach out and help those for whom a lockdown means much more than the average person, because their safety is at an even greater risk locked inside their home, along with their abuser.

With December, seasonal celebrations, and the end of 2020 behind us, we reflect on what is important to us at Women's House Serving Bruce & Grey. November, was Women Abuse Prevention Month, and it's an especially timely reminder during the pandemic. We, at WHSBG, held many virtual events and posted reminders and pointers on our social media platforms (please LIKE and FOLLOW us to see updates and current information), as our part to work towards educating the public and preventing, and hopefully, someday eliminating gender-based violence. Our Fall/Winter Newsletter dives deeper into some details surrounding violence against women and children that you might find both enlightening and provoking, with a particularly insightful article written by one of our staff members, Laura Voisin – reach out if you’d like a copy sent directly to you. It takes a village and we can all do our part to end domestic abuse and gender-based violence.

Women’s House Serving Bruce & Grey had a fundraising budget of $140,746 this year in order to maintain our quality and delivery of services. In order to provide the vital programs and services we offer to the women and children in need in our community, we rely on fundraising efforts to bridge the gap between government funding and operating costs. In normal times, this includes keeping open extra beds for when the shelter is full, funding programs with waitlists, and funding programs not covered by Ministry funding, such as Second Stage Housing. During the pandemic we have seen a significant increase in requests from victims of domestic abuse, and the need for supportive environments, like Women’s House, and at the same time, we’ve have had to reduce our shelter capacity to half. This means that after we reach full capacity, any requests for support are accommodated in hotels with take-out food, both an expensive option and one that does not meet the need for increased security in many cases. The Child Witness Program, our Outreach Counselling and Sexual Assault Counselling programs have seen waitlists created on the statistics reporting software, due to high demand, yet the Counsellors do not turn away clients. With an increase in awareness about our services and the fallout from the pandemic and lockdown stresses, the need for our services is ever increasing, and at an all-time high.

Conversely, the irony in this is that meeting pandemic protocols means fundraising opportunities for underfunded non-profits, like Women’s House, has been challenging, potentially threatening our ability to continue to provide these essential programs and services that are crucial to the health of our community. Our fundraising not only covers cost for the under-funded services and programs, but without those fundraising efforts, Women’s House would not be capable of delivering services not covered by our government funding such as emergency transportation, group supplies, extra staffing and client necessities. Consequently, because it’s so necessary, we have persevered, although fundraising has looked different this year for Women’s House Serving Bruce & Grey, as we pivoted and created on-line and virtual events. Events like our Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Virtual Walk or our Stay Safe Mask Campaign were great opportunities to raise awareness about domestic abuse, and work towards an end to gender-based violence. But unfortunately these events have not been as financially successful as in-person events, so we have had to rely on support from community members, individuals, businesses and corporations, to ensure we can continue to provide the programs and services that the women and children we serve need so desperately. We have a very generous and supportive community, and they have willingly stepped up and helped us with willing hearts and open arms throughout this trying year. We can’t thank our community enough for their on-line donations through our CanadaHelps link; cheques mailed to us; host events that you ran to raise funds for us; participating in, and supporting, our on-line events; and for the full-year support that our sponsors have given us (some of our more recent sponsors’ photos are provided). You are the reason that we can continue to help the women and children in our community who need it most. They know that when you support Women’s House, your financial support goes directly to our under-funded programs and services for women and children that have experienced abuse, and you’re helping real people in our community to improve their lives.

Impact - During the last fiscal year (2019/20), Women’s House Serving Bruce and Grey:

· Served 938 individual women*;
· Served 224 individual children*; and
· Responded to 10,619 crisis, support, and advocacy calls*
· *The above statistics are from just prior to the pandemic in Canada (our fiscal year runs from April to March)

Women's House Serving Bruce & Grey will continue to do everything we can to help the women and children that need it. We appreciate our community - for those that have supported us in the past, please accept our heartfelt thanks, because without your help we couldn't do what we do to help the women and children that so desperately need our programs and services. With domestic abuse on the rise, and increased need for our services, we can always use the help of others, so if you are able, or know someone who might be interested in helping in any way, please feel free to share and consider any of these options as ways that you can help Women's House Serving Bruce & Grey (WHSBG) and help to end gender-based violence:

· Volunteer your time at Women's House Serving Bruce & Grey (contact [email protected]),
· Strive for equality for everyone
· Become a Member of WHSBG ($10 fee - details at: (http://whsbg.on.ca/become-a-member)
· Share, Like and Follow our social media posts, to help spread the word (social media details in our attached Newsletter)
· A gift of goods/items (see our Wishlist on our website at http://whsbg.on.ca/womenshouse/needed-items),
· Speak out against all forms of violence, and applaud others that do the same
· Hold a "Host Event" of your choosing to raise funds for WHSBG (contact [email protected] if you have an idea or a plan)
· Participate in our Christmas Hamper Program to help with Christmas for women and children who need help (contact: [email protected] for more details)
· "Adopt a family for Christmas" (contact [email protected] for more details)
· Advocate for victims' rights · Become a WHSBG Sponsor (contact: [email protected] for Sponsorship Package benefits and details)
· Become an active bystander by speaking up and calling for help
· Make a Financial Donation to WHSBG (contact: [email protected] for details or to ask for our Newsletter which includes details)
· Continue the conversation, by engaging others in discussions about violence against women (the more people "talk" the less "taboo" the subject is)
· Pledge never to commit or condone acts of violence

Together, we can do the hard work to end violence against women and children, because it takes a village. And with great effort comes great rewards, but until then, there is Women's House Serving Bruce & Grey.

source: media release, Women's House Serving Bruce & Grey