August 1st to 30th is officially ‘Give Her Shelter’ month in the County. Not because violence escalates in the summer or because we should only consider helping out this month, but because Alternatives For Women, the organization that provides safety to women in our community while working to end violence and abuse, has until the end of the month to revive a funding stream that fell through to build their emergency woman’s shelter.
The Facts About Violence in PEC
* Domestic Violence is up 7.5% in Prince Edward County
* 250 County women turn to Alternatives For Women for help every year.
* 24 of them have refused shelter when none was available inside the County.
It is a huge roadblock for women living with abuse to consider relocating when their jobs, schools, family, and supports are here—but only six transitional housing units are currently operational. In 2018, AFW launched a renovation project for their new location at “Vi’s House” with a vision of providing the first PEC women’s emergency shelter, adding four transitional housing units and one affordable housing unit.
The Facts About Vi’s House Funding
* $50k is critically needed by the end of August to finish the emergency shelter
* $18.5k of this $50k has been raised so far
* AFW has a small funding window to raise the total $50k—ending August 30th
* An additional $100k will be needed in time to complete the renovation of Vi’s House
Give Her Shelter
The need is urgent—we the County have to step up for our sisters, our wives, our daughters, our neighbours, our friends. Here’s what you can do…
The 3 Steps
1. Donate: Between August 1-30th go to AFW’s Go Fund Me campaign or direct to Alternatives For Women and give something, anything, whatever you can—whether it’s $5 or $500.
2. Pass it on. Share this story, this article, these facts. Tell everyone you can about what’s happening and how to help.
3. Show Love. Save the “Give Her Shelter” icon at the bottom of this article and add it to your social profiles to mark your support and love for our County women and stand against domestic violence.
This is our home, our County, and raising these funds together will actively change the lives of women in our community who need shelter from violence.
We have one month. Let’s do this.