Eunice's Painting

Eunice, Age 9 -  “This is when there is violence at my home.  I feel mad and sometimes scared and sometimes I feel lonely.  I’m the girl with the red hair and I’m crying because I think my Mom is going to get hurt.”

Austin's Painting

Austin, Age 5 – “My dad was pushing my mom halfway over the balcony.  It was cement on the bottom.  I was scared and sad.”

Briona's Painting

Briona, Age 6 – “”My stepdad was hurting my Mom.  He said bad words.  My mom wanted it to end.”

Isaiah's Painting

Isaiah, Age 6 – “My dad pushed my mom.  He said the “F” word, the “A” word and the “S” word.  It made me sad and mad.”

James' Painting

James, Age 9 – “Scary dad monster.”

Tatiana's Painting

Tatiana, Age 7 – “This is a rainbow and my dad is saying the “F” word.”

Jeremy's Painting

Jeremy, age 13 ¼ - My mom and step dad fighting and hitting”

A Little Girl's Painting

Girl, age 6.  “Daddy pushing Bobby and Bobby is crying.” (sideways)

Josana's Painting

Josana, age 6.  “When I was a little baby my mommy and daddy broke up four times.”

Abby's Painting

Abby, age 10.  “My painting is about how you might feel when your parents are fighting and this is some of the feelings you might feel:  uncomfortable, mad, sad, scared, run away.”

Save this important November date!

Hi Everyone,

As summer is quickly passing and fall agendas begin to fill up – I wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to protect this date.

November is Woman Abuse Awareness Month and with this comes our annual “free” community awareness event.

This year, on the evening of November 2 we will be celebrating our 4th annual event.

We hope you are able to attend. The attached flyer contains the details.

Thanks for your continued support!

Mary Zilney MSW, RSW
Executive Director
Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region

Photos of the new Anselma House from the week of August 13

Click on each image below to view the enlarged photograph

Great news! – We’ve moved up to 7^th place.

Please keep spreading the word and going back to the

www.RefreshEverything.ca/MoveBeyondViolence site to vote.

With your help, we can win this Challenge

Our future youth are counting on your support!

Thanks – we’re getting there!

Jane Ryan

Executive Assistant

Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region

The shelters are full!

Tempers can rise in the heat and the need for safe shelter becomes even more urgent. Today Anselma House has 35 women and children in residence (in a shelter originally built for 20) and Haven House has 29, with 5 more on the way. Even in the crowded conditions, relief is evident in the faces of those who have made the courageous decision to ‘move beyond violence’.

Pepsi Challenge - You can vote for Rebuild Anselma House once per day!

Well it was a busy weekend for us in the Pepsi Challenge. On Friday we were ranked 9th, Saturday 8th and on Sunday we had fallen to 10th place. Where we currently sit. Please remember to vote daily. We still have till the end of August to move up.

www.refresheverything.ca/movebeyondviolence

Thanks everyone!
Margaret Bauer,
Fund Development Manager
Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region

Don't Miss the Rebuild Anselma House Garage Sale

We are holding a garage sale on Saturady, August 28 with all proceeds in support of the Rebuild Anselma House Project!

Join Us for the Rebuild Anselma House Golf Tournament

Don't miss our Golf tournament on August 26, 2010.

All proceeds will be in support of the Rebuild Anselma House project.

Ground Breaking Ceremony Celebrates the Start of Construction of the New Anselma House

KITCHENER, ON – The Government of Canada, through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region (WCSWR), held a ground-breaking ceremony today to celebrate the start of construction of “Anselma House”, a 45-bed shelter for women and children who are victims of family violence in the Region of Waterloo.

Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; Mary Zilney, Executive Director, Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region; along with invited guests attended today’s event.

“Our Government is committed to giving a hand-up to those who need it most here in Ontario”, said MP Stephen Woodworth. "That’s why we are proud to have invested in this facility which will help women and children in Kitchener access safe and suitable housing, and build a stronger future for themselves.”

The Government of Canada, through CMHC provided $500,000 to WCSWR through the Shelter Enhancement Program (SEP) and $10,000 in Seed Funding.

The SEP program assists in repairing, rehabilitating and improving existing shelters for women and their children, youth or men who are victims of family violence. It also provides financial assistance for the acquisition or construction of new shelters and second-stage housing where needed. Seed Funding offers financial assistance to housing proponents who are in the early stages of developing an affordable housing project.

The new Anselma House will be built on a 1.7 acre property at 700 Heritage Drive in Kitchener and will serve 45 women and children. The “Rebuild Anselma House…Rebuild Lives” campaign, led by the WCSWR, continues its efforts to achieve the fundraising goals for this project.

“Women’s Crisis Services is the only agency in Waterloo Region that provides emergency shelter to abused women and their children. The increasing number of women seeking our assistance highlights that domestic violence continues to be a very serious problem,” said Mary Zilney, Executive Director, Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region. “We are most grateful to the CMHC and the Government of Canada, who have made a significant financial contribution in recognition of the critical need in our community.”

The WCSWR is a charitable organization that operates two emergency shelters for abused women and their children: Anselma House in Kitchener and Haven House in Cambridge plus a regional Outreach program. This is the only agency in the Waterloo Region that provides these services. WCSWR also offers programs, both individual and for groups, to become educated on violence and enhance skill development.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has been Canada's national housing agency for more than 60 years. CMHC is committed to helping Canadians access a wide choice of quality, affordable homes, while making vibrant, healthy communities and cities a reality across the country.

In 2008, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. As a part of this investment, the renovation programs for low-income households, including the Shelter Enhancement Program, were extended for two years. For Ontario this represents $73 million in federal funding for renovation programs off-reserve.

Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion to build new and renovate existing social housing for low-income Canadians, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

Pepsi is giving away over a million dollars in grants to fund great ideas (Like ours!)

Rebuild Anselma has registered with the Pepsi Refresh Project. Voting starts July 1 and ends August 31, 2010. We have applied for a $25,000 grant in support of the furnishing the new youth room in the new Anselma House. We have asked to purchase two TVs, couches, desks, chairs, games, Wii with games, PS3 with games, CD/DVD/VCR, movies, board games, etc.

We need as many people as possible to go on line and vote for our project during July and August!

You are allowed one vote for our project each day...
For more information or to vote for our project visit
www.RefreshEverything.ca

A Night at The Movies in Support of Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know of a cool way you could support Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region (WCSWR) by just going to the movies.

We are selling Movie Passes to Frederick Twin Cinemas for $15 per Child and $20 per Adult and that includes Medium Popcorn and Medium Drink. Proceeds of these sales will be donated to WCSWR through the efforts of the Family Camping Weekend Planning Committee.

Click on the image for more information. If you would like to purchase some tickets, please contact Bill McBay (William.McBay@sunlife.com) or Jane Ryan (Jane.Ryan@wcswr.org) and they will make sure to get tickets to you right away.

If possible, please pass this offer around to your friends and family as well as it is a great deal and win - win for everyone.

Thanks in advance for your support.
Bill McBay  (William.McBay@sunlife.com)
Jane Ryan  (Jane.Ryan@wcswr.org)


P.S. - If anyone would like to help by selling tickets at their place of work or though their children's sports teams, please let me know. The more help the merrier! :-)

We have an Address!

It's official! The new Anselma House has an address:

700 Heritage Drive, Kitchener.

Why Judging and Blaming the Woman Can Worsen Domestic Violence

Here is a thought provoking article by Delina Cummings on the Woman to Woman website (formerly Candid Suite)

"What is more disturbing is the ease at which some blame the woman for domestic violence committed against her, often without understanding the myriad of factors and issues at play. "  Read the entire article here.

Donate a Toonie to Support Rebuild Anselma House

Sobey’s in Kitchener and Waterloo will be running a Donate a Toonie event June 13-26th in support of the Rebuild Anselma House, Rebuild Lives capital campaign.

Please consider a donation when asked to give at the checkout – Your Toonie will help to rebuild the lives of women and children in Waterloo Region.

Progress is being made ... the new Anselma House

The construction trailer should be arriving any day now at the site of the new Anselma House on Ottawa Street in Kitchener.

We are looking forward to the official ground breaking ceremony in June.

Stay tuned for more news!

K-W Symphony Offers Benefit Concert

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony will be doing a Pops Concert, "Our Community", on May 6th, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in support of the Rebuild Anselma House...Rebuild Lives capital campaign. The concert will be held at the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts at 35 King St. W, Kitchener. Tickets ($45/adults, $30/students & children) are available at the Conrad Centre or online at http://tickets.kwsymphony.on.ca/calendar/view.aspx?id=601

Thanks to Conestoga College

Conestoga College, Kitchener, did a Clothesline event this week around Respectful Relationships and had a rep from our shelter there to share brochures and information with students (they also gave proceeds from the event towards our building campaign). Every event like this raises awareness, which is one more step towards ending violence against abused women. Thanks to all at Conestoga College who organized and participated in the event - You are making a difference!!

Community Helps!

Lots of groups and individuals in the community are stepping forward in support of the Rebuild Anselma House...Rebuild Lives campaign. Some current or upcoming events:

Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort and DAVE-FM have already raised $14,000 in their Give Back to the Community Event. You can help - ski Wednesdays and $5 from each lift ticket will be donated to the campaign. Thanks to Dwayne, Lars and All involved with this fantastic event!!

March 6, 2010, 8 p.m. at Kitchener City Council Chambers - Flush Ink Productions presents "She Speaks" - Staged readings of short plays and excerpts from longer plays by women. This event is in recognition of International Women's Day and proceeds will be donated to Rebuild Anselma House...Rebuild Lives campaign. Go to http://flushink.net/shespeaks.html for more details. Many thanks to Paddy and all involved in this meaningful event.

February 19th the EFTO of the Waterloo Region District School Board are holding a dance - "Rock Out for Anselma House" with the band Innuendo. We appreciate the efforts of Sue and other on the organizational committee - should be an awesome night!

This community is awesome. Your support is appreciated by all at Anselma House...especially the women and children we serve!!

Long Awaited News

John Milloy, MPP for Kitchener Centre announced on Friday, January 29th, 2010 that the Ministry of Community and Social Services will invest $3.5 million in Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region to support the rebuilding of Anselma House. The funding will help provide a new shelter to house and assist women and children in Waterloo Region who are fleeing domestic violence.

The new shelter will expand Anselma House’s current capacity of 20 shelter beds to 45 beds. In addition, the shelter will offer children’s play areas, recreation and study space, and rooms for children’s programming.

The shovel will be in the ground this Spring!

Announcement

Big Funding Announcement tomorrow - stay tuned!!

Upcoming Event

Event Horizon Dance presents DUST - mathematically enhanced exhilirating dance - January 22, 2009, 8 p.m. at Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts, 36 King St. W. Kitchener. Call 1-888-745-4717 for ticket information. Proceeds to Rebuild Anselma House...Rebuild Lives. Go to www.eventhorizondance.ca for more details.