Last semester, Oxfam at Queen’s raised $816 for the Oxfam initiative Her Future, Her Choice. We are incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from the Queen’s and Kingston community. Last semester's fundraisers helped to ensure young women in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia have access to vital health information and services through the Her Future, Her Choice initiative. This program also raises money to train public health workers and advocate for women’s bodily autonomy so that negative attitudes surrounding women’s sexual and reproductive rights can be changed. It is incredibly important to continue to support women’s rights to bodily autonomy and share information regarding sexual and reproductive health. Oxfam at Queen’s will be supporting a different initiative this semester, but donations to the Her Future, Her Choice project are still being accepted through this link. This semester, Oxfam at Queen’s hopes to make an impact more locally, which is why we’ve chosen to fundraise for the Kingston Interval House.
The Kingston Interval House:
The Kingston Interval House (KIH) provides 24-hour safe emergency shelter, counseling services, and Second Stage Housing to women, youth, and children who have experienced violence. The KIH seeks to protect the human rights of all women. Their mission is to change the structural and broader social, political, and economic circumstances that frequently render women and their children vulnerable to gender-based violence and oppression. Their core values include accessibility, responsiveness, empowerment, constituent involvement, accountability, ongoing learning, and multi-issue literacy. The KIH uses these core principles to guide their work to best support women experiencing violence.
The KIH opened its doors December 1st, 1975. Since opening, the KIH has had to change its location 4 times to accommodate the need for increased space and housing. At its current location, the KIH can accommodate 25 women and youth/children. In 2010, the KIH opened their Second Stage Housing facility that provides short-term, affordable and supportive housing to women, children and youth for up to a period of one year. Now, the KIH offers a multitude of programs to support women and children leaving abusive circumstances.
Emergency Shelter Program:
The KIH Emergency Shelter Programs provides a safe 25-bed facility for women, youth, and children with priority housing given to those who have experienced violence or at risk of violence. The shelter is staffed by a trained and dedicated team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The staff provides clients with counseling, safety planning tools, advocacy and community referrals, and assistance to transition back into the community. The shelter also provides meals, clothing, transportation, laundry, and personal hygiene needs. Additionally, the staff runs workshops like game nights, painting, and arts and crafts in its common room for clients to enjoy. The KIH emergency shelter continues to be busy and at full capacity most of the time which unfortunately requires the program to use a waitlist. Despite operating at and beyond capacity, the KIH Emergency Shelter Programs continues to offer shelter and support to its residents fleeing violence.
Transitional and Housing Support Program (THSP):
The THSP is designed to assist women with any of their transitional and housing needs as they leave an abusive relationship to pursue their own life of independence. This often includes supporting a woman's journey from the shelter, to second stage housing, and ultimately to permanent housing in the community. Additionally, help is offered to women in the community to support them in their healing process from violence and aid them to feel more empowered in their own lives. To support women through this major and crucial transition in their lives, the THSP offers and provides:
Counseling, support, advocacy, information, court support, and referrals to other appropriate agencies.
Accompaniment to appointments, connections with community agencies, and assistance re-establishing in the community.
Recreational events including: scrapbooking, painting, crafts, gardening, going to garage sales, and participating in beach days.
Access to groups who support each other and focus on: life skills, self-esteem, self-care, cooking, budgeting, assertiveness, boundaries and goal setting.
Information regarding domestic violence and human trafficking provided through staff who are active members of the Kingston/Frontenac Lennox & Addington Human Trafficking Working Group.
Community Outreach Program:
KIH’s Community Outreach Program provides support for women who wish to establish violence free lives in the Kingston and Frontenac County community. This program offers a variety of resources and can be delivered in many ways, such as telephone, coming into their office, and within community and group sessions. This program mainly provides:
Outreach Counseling for Women: Provides access to counseling services for women planning to leave or who have left abusive situations, transitional plans, connections to community supports, safety plans for both women and children, court support, and more.
French Language Services: Offers both counseling and transitional services in French to meet the needs of our Francophone community including, safety planning, accessing financial assistance, securing permanent housing, court support and more.
Indigenous and Rural Outreach Services: Provides resources for Indigenous women fleeing violence in areas of healthy relationships, effects of violence and types of abuse, Traditional Teachings, Healing Ceremonies, Women’s Circles, safety planning, individual counseling, group support, holistic health & wellness, parenting support, court & legal support.
Child and Youth Outreach Services: Offers individual counseling for children and youth and works with schools to educate youth on healthy relationships, dating violence, and family changes group work and individual counseling.
Training and Education Program: Provides educational presentations and workshops to individuals in community organizations, workplaces, and school settings to educate the public on gender-based violence and KIH services.
Robin’s Hope - Second Stage Housing:
The Robin’s Hope Second Stage Housing program offered by the KIH is an eighteen-unit apartment building that provides safe and supportive housing to women and children fleeing violence in the Kingston area. As access to affordable housing decreases, Robin’s Hope follows a rent-geared-to-income model where everyone’s rent is tailored to their specific income, providing a more equitable opportunity for women looking for safe housing. The goal of Robin’s Hope is to provide safe, transitional housing to women and equip them with all the support and tools needed to feel empowered and be successful in their transition back into the community. Women are able to stay at Robin’s Hope for up to a year and receive support from KIH’s Transitional and Housing Support Program and Community Outreach Program. Additionally, Robin’s Hope has partnered with several organizations and businesses to provide as many opportunities for access to food as possible. The KIH believes food security is an important factor in safety and stability for women and their children. The Second Stage Housing program’s ultimate goal is to help women break free from the cycle of abuse and support them in their journey to live safe and independent lives.
Oxfam at Queen’s Fundraisers and Events:
The KIH is an incredible local organization, providing emergency housing to 200 women and children and facilitating over 800 safety planning sessions with women, all annually. In order to aid KIH with their mission of helping women and their children find safety, Oxfam at Queen’s will be organizing several fundraisers and events this semester:
Oxfam at Queen’s Fair Trade Snack Bar - Wednesday’s from 11-5 @ the ARC
Line Skip Tickets for Trinity - February 2nd
Period Drive - February 6th-10th
Oxfam Booth @ Canadian Kingston Film Festival - March 3rd & 5th
Oxjam - March 6th @ the Mansion
Line Skip Tickets for Stages - March 24th
Make sure to check out the Oxfam at Queen’s Instagram for more information on our upcoming fundraisers and events! Additionally, visit the Kingston Interval House website for more information on their services.