Often it takes a crisis to provoke the kind of community response seen in YWCA’s START program — a hub of services brought together one day every week, a place where women in abusive relationships in the Kawarthas can get answers, find resources, and “start” the process of reclaiming their lives.
In the case of START, it was not one crisis, but rather hundreds: each a woman’s life that depends upon an efficient, collaborative approach to the relentless urgency of domestic violence.
Since its inception in 2013, with the help of donor funding and an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, START (Support Team for Abuse Response Today) has helped more than 500 local women, mostly referred to the service by word-of-mouth.
Following the publication in kawarthaNOW of the first in this series, START program coordinators say more women came through the door seeking help than they’d seen any other Monday in three years.
“The response was remarkable,” says YWCA START Coordinator Jennifer Martin. “It’s a sign of the real need in our communities.”
START operates from the YWCA building on Simcoe Street in Peterborough. On Mondays, you will find up to a dozen service providers ready, willing, and able to assist with answers, counselling, shelter, safety planning, and more.
On-site staff include a domestic violence specialist from the Children’s Aid Society, a YWCA court support worker, a YWCA outreach worker (to help with transitional housing and support), a nurse from Peterborough Regional Health Centre, a representative from victim services for the county and one from the victim witness assistance program, and a lawyer.
In addition to on-site staff, available by phone every Monday are representatives from The Elizabeth Fry Society, Legal Aid, Peterborough Lakefield Community Police Victim Services, and the City of Peterborough’s Social Services Department.
The women who seek help are often nervous, emotionally drained, determined, and looking for direction about next steps. Sometimes, they are facing different challenges than what you might expect, as more and more frequently, the woman seeking help is a senior.
Once a woman is at the YWCA, she will have access to the services she needs most, based upon her unique personal circumstances — including the services offered by Laura Proctor.
Support Team for Abuse Response Today (START)
Where: YWCA (216 Simcoe St. Peterborough)
How much: Free
Do you or someone you know need help getting out of an abusive relationship? Do you think you may be in an unhealthy relationship? Are you afraid for your safety or that of a friend or family member?
Every Monday, YWCA’s START program brings a variety of resources together under one roof. Call the YWCA at 705-743-3526 for more information or an appointment, or simply walk-in between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday. All services are free and confidential. Free parking is available.
Proctor lives the front line when it comes to domestic violence. She is a crisis intervention worker with the Peterborough and Northumberland Victim Services. She says the complexities are unique to each situation, but that more and more often they include families that have grandchildren living with them.
“Regardless of their age or situation, women need a place to start,” she says. “Leaving a relationship can be overwhelming, and trying to navigate the network of support services can be one thing that stops a woman.”
“At START, you’re going to get everything you need under one roof,” Proctor adds. “It’s a hub for a fragmented system. It’s too easy for women to fall through the cracks. START makes sure there is more seamless care.”
Proctor explains just how extensive the support services at START can be. As one of a dozen service providers, she offers customized in-depth safety planning ranging from delivery of a 911 safety phone to the planning of a secret place to hide it.
Her agency can also provide counselling, lock-changes, home safety repair, emergency hotel rooms, personal-care items, funeral expenses in the case of homicides, and coverage for the cost of crime scene cleanup.
Each agency offers its own unique services to help meet the complex needs of women who come to START.
The range of challenges that prevent women from leaving an abusive partner is wide, she says, and while advancements are made, Proctor says it takes an entire community to address the issue of domestic violence.
“We all understand that it takes a community to raise a child,” she says. “It also takes a community to assist a woman to leave an abusive partner.”
For more information on the START program, visit ywcapeterborough.org/start.
