THUNDER BAY — A woman who supports victims of domestic abuse is welcoming the launch of a new program in Northwestern Ontario that will help them rebuild their lives.
Footprints Northwest aims to empower survivors of intimate partner violence by providing them with the financial means to leave abusive situations for safer settings where they can live independently.
The program also has an educational component.
About $350,000 in funding from the Ontario government is available for dispersal by shelters in five communities across the region this year, in partnership with the OPP.
Kendall Trembath, executive-director of Women's Shelter Saakaate House in Kenora, said "this could be life-changing."
She explained that many abusers control the finances in the household, making it almost impossible for their partners to leave without facing hardship.
"A victim might worry about how they'll support themselves or if they can put down first and last month's rent, or how are they going to get groceries. All of those things that, coupled in a relationship, you might not think twice about. The Footprints program will help women who are in that situation to be able to leave."
Trembath, whose facility houses about 100 women over the course of a year, stressed the significance of the project's partnership involving Ontario Provincial Police and the participating shelters in Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, Red Lake and Sioux Lookout.
"It's really important, that we can come together and work together, because beyond just issuing money there are several different layers to it. There's the OPP and shelter relationship, but underneath that is a committee that we have formed in order to look at the applications that come in, and that is an important piece of relationship-building to make sure our services aren't working in silos."
In a news release announcing the project, the OPP said that by fostering community collaboration, the project provides direct and vital support to high-risk victims.
"The project brings together victim-centred resources from around the Northwest Region into a collaborative hub. Individually, the organizations involved touch the lives of victims in each community every day. This funding creates a coalition that will have a profound impact for people at their most vulnerable moment, immediately and for years to come," said Insp. Ben Curtis at the OPP regional headquarters in Thunder Bay.
Acting Detective Sergeant Melinda Mills, based in Fort Frances, has worked closely with victims of domestic abuse for many years, and currently serves as the OPP's regional abuse issues coordinator.
Mills said the culturally-sensitive training component of Footprints will be adapted for each community's needs.
"That's obviously a big part of the partnership between the police and the victim advocates from the shelters. It's really just to increase information relating to the available resources...Intimate partner violence affects everyone in the home, especially children. It can have lasting impacts, so it's just to educate to help understand the dynamics and risks, and what the resources are."
She said education will also be directed at young people when necessary because "not everyone knows what a healthy relationship looks like, and hopefully this will maybe help them get out of a situation or prevent them from getting into it."
