Hub Staff

A new video and a Christmas campaign for the Women’s House Serving Bruce & Grey (WHSBG) are just some of the things going on over the next few months to commemorate 30 years of service and assistance for women and children in need, in Bruce and Grey counties.

The Women’s House wanted to give back to the communities that have supported, funded, and volunteered over the years and called upon Adam Olivero, content producer for Bruce and Wightman Telecom to help. Olivero shot and edited a piece that illustrates the resources and support that the WHSBG has given to those who can find themselves in their most vulnerable state.

Olivero recently participated in the emotional WHSBG “Walk a Mile in her Shoes” fundraiser, which was held in the Spring and raised $10,000 in Saugeen Shores alone; and said that shooting the video was a life learning experience. “I felt good [making the video], and getting the message out there. You can see the passion behind the staff’s eyes, and that they really believe in this,” Olivero said during a video sneak-peak November 25 in Kincardine.

“It was interesting to see the inner workings of the Women’s House. It was a learning experience for me for sure.” Olivero shot footage inside the three Second Stage homes run by Women’s House. The homes are located in Wiarton, Port Elgin and Kincardine.

The Second Stage homes offer safe, transitional housing for women and children who need a place to live, for up to a year, as they await community housing opportunities. Second Stage homes are not funded by the government so the facilities and staff are covered entirely by fundraising efforts; and it’s currently the most in-need endeavour that the WHSBG runs.

For the Christmas season, WHSBG is launching the ’30 for 30’ campaign, where 30 dollars, one dollar for every year the House has been open, will go to support Second Stage housing and other funded programs the WHSBG have to help women and children.

“Not all of our programs are completely funded so the money we raise from the 30 for 30 campaign will go towards to that program,” said Cheryl Cottril November 25.

“We’re under donated by 50,000 (in 2015) so we need a little extra funds to keep the budget going the way it sits now. If someone wants to donate 30 dollars, we will provide a Christmas card and envelope that … can be gifted to a loved one that will say ‘money has been donated to the Women’s House,’” Cottrill said, adding that she is grateful for the community support over the past 30 years.

“The big thing that we’re celebrating is not the fact that we’re here 30 years later, ‘cause everyone would hope that Women’s House wouldn’t be needed, but we’re really celebrating the community support, and allowing us to keep our doors open, because we wouldn’t be here without the community support,” she said.

The Women’s House Serving Bruce & Grey has helped approximately 15,000 women over the past 30 years, over 2,000 children; and has experienced a record number of crisis calls in 2015. Some speculate that higher profile sexual assault and abuse allegations in the media, such as Bill Cosby and Jian Ghomeshi, have empowered women to come forward, resulting in the higher than normal numbers.

For more information on the Women’s House Serving Bruce & Grey or to donate, visit whsbg.on.ca