"We Will Walk Through This Together"
How the Family Violence Project Makes A Difference

"There are moments that just happen here," says Mosaic Counselling and Family Services Intake Coordinator Sue Coulter, "where things just come together and you say aha, this is why this works so well."

All eleven of the existing co-located partners will tell you the same thing. They all have similar stories about terrified individuals who come through the door asking for help. "When someone comes in," says FVP Coordinator Pam Mank, "we have wonderful colleagues here that are right down the hall." Victims of domestic violence can receive guidance from a person they trust and can choose to access the services they need right then and there rather than trying to navigate and bravely entering another door, only to tell their story again and again to yet another unfamiliar face.

"When someone comes in," says Sue, "I tell them how brave they are and that it took so much courage to come in, and that we will walk through this together."

"It makes such a difference when you can make the connections and introductions by name... Casey, Sean, Arlene...," says Pam. "It makes the steps they need to take so much easier."

...Claire was connected to the FVP with an early morning call from her son's teacher. The school was calling Family and Children's Services, but were concerned about the result of this action and the mother's safety. "The teacher knew that the only opportunity to get this woman support was when she dropped her children off at school in the morning," says Sue, "When she called, I kept her on the line and raced down to Marie's office, within minutes we had arranged to get her in to Women's Crisis Services. The police were involved, a safety plan devised, and emergency shelter arranged."

...One woman brought her neighbour in who was so terrified that she could barely talk. She disclosed that there were unregistered guns in the home and her husband had threatened to use them in the past. The woman was frantic as her children were still in the house. The Regional Police DVI Unit and Family and Children Services were mobilized to go out and get the children. Women's Crisis Services were immediately brought in as well as the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence team.

..."One woman who had been involved in one of our CAPC children's programs had been a long-time victim of domestic violence," says Community Services Director, Nancy Kyle. "She didn't know where to go or who to see. Everywhere she went, her husband found her and terrified both her and her children. She didn't know who to contact, what services were available or what her rights were. So, we sat down and brought everyone to her. When she left here, she was two inches taller, armed with contacts, information about restraining orders, a safety plan and people she could trust."

There is no one tale that tells the story of family violence. Family violence happens everywhere. It happens to professional people, in neighbourhoods where the police are never called, in families where he seemed like such a charming man. It happens to women, men, children, teens, new Canadians, the elderly. It happens - unless we stop it.

• Contact: fvpwaterloo@mosaiconline.ca
• 519.743.6333

• 400 Queen Street South, Kitchener, ON, N2G 1W7