Over $2.4-million has been announced by the provincial government to prevent and address gender-based violence and support survivors in Windsor.
The Ontario government announced this funding on Friday, which will be provided over three-years to Hiatus House for their new project: A Hub Without Walls: Ending Gender Based Violence in Windsor-Essex.
This initiative will look to address gender-based violence in a holistic way by integrating early prevention and intervention, education and awareness, and long-term support. The program will also address the complex needs of survivors by eliminating barriers across sectors.
Key components of this project will include mobile supports for survivors, such as service navigation, addiction services, trauma support, and risk identification so individuals can be met with help where and when they need it.
Sylvie Guenther, Executive Director of Hiatus House, says this funding is crucial.
"So over two years we're going to be hiring people, working with up to 18 community partners to develop collaborative relationships to help us do more around preventing gender-based violence and femicide."
She says this funding will see new staff to assist with preventative measures.
"We're going to be hiring service navigators that will work across our region to be able to prevent, or to identify issues early. And to be able to work with people to prevent future issues from developing. And also a large education campaign."
She says there are key components of this project.
"We're going to be developing some training and awareness around risk identification, and early intervention within our sector, and beyond our sector so that when people are showing signs, or talking about what's going on, that people know how to respond."
Guenther adds that their goal is to identify and support people early in order to prevent any further instances of femicide in the community.
Ontario is investing approximately $98-million in up to 83 new initiatives across the province that will focus on building safer communities, stopping gender-based violence before it happens, and helping survivors to recover and rebuild their lives.
-with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides