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The Victoria Women鈥檚 Transition House Society is scrambling to keep its services and supports intact amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which is leaving many women isolated in their home, sometimes with abusive partners.
鈥淲e do know when people are in isolation, the longer they are in isolation, the more vulnerable they are,鈥� executive director Makenna Rielly said.
As the virus spread, the society moved quickly to make sure staff who could work from home were set up to do that to prevent interruption of its ongoing counselling programs for older women and for children who have witnessed violence.
鈥淲e were all bracing, getting everyone ready for the onslaught of calls, and really in the past 10聽days, we have seen a huge increase in people calling our 24-hour crisis line,鈥� said Rielly. 鈥淥ur calls have almost doubled. So we鈥檙e increasing our crisis-line counsellors to handle the calls. And our programs are still going and still going strong.鈥� (The crisis line number is 250-385-6611.)
This week, the Rapid Relief Fund put another $869,000 to work in the community to support people in need. The fund 鈥� set up by the Victoria Foundation, the Jawl Foundation and the Times 91原创 鈥� has raised close to $4聽million.
Rielly was thrilled to hear the Victoria Women鈥檚 Transition House Society will receive $100,000.
鈥淭his is going to help,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 thank the community enough for this support at this time because we are providing a tremendous amount of additional services and we rely so heavily on community donations. We know there are a lot of people who normally donate who aren鈥檛 working and don鈥檛 know what their work is going to look like. We鈥檝e been very concerned about our donation side. So for the community to swoop in here and do this is just so exciting for us. We are so grateful.鈥�
The society has changed its protocols for cleaning and sanitization, scrambled for cleaning supplies and increased staff to do the cleaning.
鈥淲e鈥檙e concerned about protecting the people in the shelter and protecting the staff.鈥�
Rielly has noticed that vulnerable women are taking the directive to stay home and isolate very seriously 鈥� until their situation becomes too bad.
鈥淭hen they鈥檙e looking for support, because it could be life and death,鈥� she said.
Typically, someone will stay at the shelter for 30 days while staff work to find them a place in the community. But sometimes, when a person is placed in the community, they go home within two days.
鈥淭hey leave for a multitude of reasons 鈥� the violent partner is threatening the pet, the victim鈥檚 parents or the children. Sometimes, the decisions are really out of their hands.鈥�
The pandemic has also created backlogs in terms of placing someone in a new place in the community. People aren鈥檛 moving out of their apartments, and movers are unwilling to move furniture into an apartment and want to just drop things on the sidewalk.
鈥淪o people are stuck at home and stuck at the transition house,鈥� said Rielly, who expects the number of vulnerable women seeking help at the shelter will increase.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a process for someone to decide to take that step, especially with children. But we are seeing more requests and the money will definitely help us support the women in their decision to come in.鈥�
Helping people isolated with violent partners is putting an incredible strain on the society, said Rob Janus, communications director for the Victoria Foundation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 heart-wrenching and amazing at the same time,鈥� said Janus.
This week鈥檚 grants will be given to Our Place Society, the Goldstream Food Bank, several seniors groups, PEERS Victoria Resources Society, which deals with a very at-risk population, the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society and the Intercultural Association of Greater Victoria, among others.
鈥淚 was really just blown away by the breadth of supports that are represented,鈥� said Janus. 鈥淚t is really spanning the full range of financial, health, economic, counselling supports and supports for people just navigating how to get support from a government agency or service and the types of population that are represented as well, from families to seniors to homeless populations, to sex workers to victims of violent crime. It鈥檚 just such an amazing array.鈥�
Janus said he still has to catch his breath when he says the Rapid Relief Fund is just shy of $4 million.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not even 2.5 weeks into this campaign and we鈥檙e saying we鈥檙e almost at $4 million. It just boggles the mind. The generosity of the community is unbelievable and it鈥檚 not showing any signs of letting up here.鈥�
HOW TO DONATE
Tax receipts will be issued. If you are open to receiving your tax receipt by PDF, please include an email address with your donation.
鈥� Online:
鈥� Phone: 250-381-5532
鈥� Mail: Send cheques (made out to the Victoria Foundation) to RapidRelief Fund, Victoria Foundation, 200-703 Broughton St., Victoria V8W 1E2
The Rapid Relief Fund was created by the Victoria Foundation, the Jawl Foundation, and the Times 91原创 to help people in need as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CHEK Television, Coast Outdoor Advertising and Black Press are helping to boost awareness. Every dollar received from donations goes out as grants to the community.
Donations are being distributed through the Victoria Foundation.
