News

The Building Economic Self-Sufficiency program (BESS) is designed to help women acquire the skills they need to live and thrive independently. It’s also designed to build a sense of community. Over the 2016 holiday season, we hosted a number of events for our BESS clients to enjoy the spirit of the season.

The big event of the holiday season was our annual holiday party for all clients of Interval House. Our Community Programs department worked very hard to plan for the party and the huge turnout (34 women and 50 children!) and positive feedback told us that the party was a success.

We had 18 cheerful volunteers helping with activity stations for the children, including face painting, colouring, crafts, and cookie decorating. A chef came in to serve lasagna, curry, and build-your-own tacos, which many of our clients said they particularly enjoyed. We even had a s’mores station for dessert, which had a constant line-up and was a huge hit with the children. A toy room was stocked full of toys for all ages and interests so that each mom could pick out toys to take home for her little ones.

Many of our clients expressed gratitude for the toy room and one mentioned that it relieved much of the pressure around gift-giving during the holiday season.

We also wanted to make sure that moms and single women were not forgotten, so each woman was also gifted a box of essentials, treats, and gift cards to take home for herself. The atmosphere at the party was very lively—holiday music playing in the background, children laughing and playing, and the constant hum of friendly conversation put the guests, staff, and volunteers in a festive mood.

We also held a holiday brunch, where staff prepared and served a delicious meal to our BESS clients. This gathering was an opportunity for clients to socialize and network with one another over a delicious spread of homemade crepes, fruit, waffles, eggs, and coffee. The relaxed conversation and camaraderie was a great way to round off the week before the holidays.

Every holiday season, Interval House is proud to partner with companies in our community to provide sponsorship for our families. This year, we ensured that 30 families did not miss out on the excitement of the holiday season, and that each mom got to see her kids gleefully open gifts from their wish lists.

We were thrilled to host a series of festive events this year and we’re always excited to find ways to facilitate community building through BESS. As we move into warmer weather, we look forward to marking the start of spring with our clients!

By Neil Sinclair, Trustee, Estate of Virginia Rock 

A friend of mine for many years, Virginia Rock spent her life in passionate support of those disadvantaged and displaced members of our society.

A devotee of English and American literature, Virginia was born in Michigan but moved to Toronto to teach at York University in 1965. Known as an inspiring role model for young women in a male-dominated academic setting, Virginia founded the Women’s Studies program at York.

Virginia came across Interval House many years ago, while writing an article summarizing her studies of displaced people. What she loved most about Interval House was that they offer more than a “handout”. Instead, they work to help integrate women back into society who often have nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Known as a humanist and an endless “giver”, Virginia was always willing to help people in any way she could. In her later years, Virginia served as President of the Ulyssean Society, a group I also belong to, dedicated to lifelong learning. During her time as President of the Society, she always ensured Interval House got a yearly donation during the holiday season.

On November 17, 2015, Virginia passed away at the age of 92. It did not come as a surprise that Virginia had planned to continue her legacy of caring for the disadvantaged through a gift in her will to Interval House. Her generosity will continue to nurture families through programs and services that provide emotional support, practical help and life skills to break the cycle of violence.

The Interval House Kitchen is truly the heart of our home. It’s a place where moms and kids come together to share a meal, as well as laughter and tears. Used at least three times a day to cook meals for up to thirty people over the last 10 years, our “heart” is in desperate need of some tender loving care!

When we moved into this house 10 years ago, the kitchen received some cosmetic and accessibility upgrades, but the foundation and many of the appliances were left untouched. The existing walk-in fridge and freezer, along with our grease traps, are well over 50 years old. As you can imagine, they’re no longer in good repair.

The grease trap regularly overflows, damaging masonry and flooring—and spreading foul smells throughout the kitchen and program areas. The fridge and freezer break down frequently, creating food waste and increased expenses. Plus, our stove needs replacing.

Women and children fleeing domestic violence desperately need a solid foundation to rebuild their lives. Our kitchen forms the very centre of that foundation: for the women who cook the nightly meal, for the volunteer groups who occasionally come and cook for them, and for the children who come in search of nourishment.

That’s why our kitchen desperately needs an overhaul! Our goal is to significantly renovate the kitchen as soon as possible so that future families can truly enjoy the space and home cooked meals, just like the families that came before them.

The cost of a complete kitchen renovation will be $400,000. With care and maintenance, the new kitchen will last another 25 years or more! That’s 25 more years we can nourish women and chidlren along their journey of healing, with tenderly homecooked food and communal conversation. We think it’s worth it, and we hope you will too.

Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the beginning of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

Women have progressed leaps and bounds since first being recognized as “persons” in Canada in 1929. We can vote, we can lead corporate and non-profit organizations, we can hold public office, we can play professional sports, and we can mobilize to demonstrate against injustice. But gender discrimination, inequality and patriarchal values persist and they lead to the very real and current problem of violence against women (VAW).

One in two women in Canada has experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16.1 That’s fifty percent of all Canadian women! Can you imagine what that statistic would be if it encompassed emotional abuse too?

If you think that VAW is an individual or private problem that doesn’t concern you, it’s time to take a closer look at the issue. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, articulated it best when she said, “Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, public health pandemic and serious obstacle to sustainable development. It imposes large-scale costs on families, communities and economies. The world cannot afford to pay this price.”2

You see, when a woman experiences intimate partner violence, sexism, harassment, or discrimination of any kind, it will have serious impacts on her mental and physical well-being. Those impacts ultimately interfere with her ability to live and to work. It impacts her ability to realize her full potential.  It affects the level of care she can give to her children and loved ones. From there, the butterfly effect sets in and the woman’s children and her community live with the consequences of the violence she was subjected to.

That’s why it’s so important to take action against gender-based violence. The 16 Days of Activism campaign is a call to action. It encourages you to consider the ways you can help eliminate VAW through tangible actions — because actions matter.

Here are some ideas about how to join in the crusade to end VAW once and for all:

• speak up when you witness sexist behaviour or violence
• volunteer for a local women’s organization
• donate to VAW organizations
• engage your friends and family in discussions about VAW
• challenge dated concepts about gender roles

Do you have other ideas about how you can help? We’d love to hear from you! Follow our 16 Days of Activism campaign on social media and share your pledge to work to end VAW with the hashtag #16DaysPledge. You can find us on Facebook at @IntervalHouseTO, on Twitter at @Interval_House, or visit our website at https://www.intervalhouse.ca/16days.

Let’s join together as allies to end gender-based violence for a more harmonious, just and equitable world.

1 http://www.canadianwomen.org/facts-about-violence

2 http://www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday/

Women’s empowerment – the centre of our support services

Interval House takes a holistic approach to the goal of ending violence against women by placing women’s empowerment at the centre of its support services. The fact of the matter is that a woman who escapes abuse is not only healing wounds, she is rebuilding her life from scratch.

After surviving unspeakably traumatic experiences, women who leave abusive relationships will encounter a series of hurdles on the road to peace, healing and independence. The greatest challenges—psychological, emotional and practical effects—often stem directly from the abuse they’ve endured. Many survivors may have no savings, unstable housing, and low self-esteem; they might be isolated from friends and family, experience feelings of powerlessness, and lack essential workplace skills.

Decades ago, Interval House staff saw the need for a program that addresses the unique barriers that abused women face when seeking employment. They heard from survivors that financial dependence was one of the reasons women stayed with their abusers. The path forward was clear: women needed more than an emergency shelter to break the cycle of violence for good. The question was: how to get there?

The BESS program (Building Economic Self-Sufficiency)

In 1998, the BESS program (Building Economic Self-Sufficiency) was born to help address this complex problem and continues to evolve to maximize the long-term impact on the lives of women and children who escape abuse. The program allows women to discover (or often re-discover!) their skills and competencies; they learn to write a resume and cover letter, conduct a job search, prepare for an interview and develop life skills like doing taxes and balancing working with parenting.

BESS continues to reflect the culture of innovation at Interval House, a modern trailblazer in the shelter movement. The program is built upon the belief that when women leave Interval House they must be able to achieve financial security, a home in a safe neighbourhood and the chance to develop a sincere belief in a brighter future ahead.

BESS BY THE NUMBERS – IN 2015

• 39 women graduated from the BESS program
• BESS women wrote 58 resumes and dreamed big with 39 vision boards
• 69% of BESS graduates found stable jobs