Fall news 2017

Family Transition Place Fall News

2017

On September 12th, 2009, the trajectory of Penny and Gus Bogner’s lives changed in an instant when a domestic dispute claimed the life of their daughter, Heidi Ferguson. Heidi was just 39 years young, a business owner, and the mother of two wonderful children. She was described as being a kind soul with a great love of life.

It all ended abruptly, when Heidi lost her life due to a tragic domestic dispute with her estranged husband. It left Heidi’s family, her children, her friends, and the entire community reeling with heartbreak and shock.

In the wake of this tragedy, Gus and Penny founded The Ferguson Memorial Walk. This year marks the 6th year that the Bogners and their team of volunteers have organized this event, and with the $22,000 raised from this year, they reached a huge milestone of raising a total of $100,000 for Family Transition Place.

This isn’t just another foundation or fundraiser. This is a legacy. And it’s not just a legacy for Heidi; this is a legacy for women and families everywhere.

It is most important to Penny and Gus that the funds they have raised through this event are used by Family Transition Place (FTP) to continue offering our education programs in schools and communities; programs that educate people of all ages about healthy, respectful relationships, without violence.

Gus and Penny’s courage and passion to help make a difference is so inspiring to all of us here at FTP. We are truly honoured to know them and are so grateful for their ongoing support. Thank you Penny, Gus, Courtney, Connor and all the friends and family that have been involved. You are all incredible.

www.familytransitionplace.ca • 24 Hour Info/Support Line 519.941.4357 • 905.584.4357 • 1.800.265.9178

The Hope

project

voice of courage: timea nagy Timea Nagy, a human trafficking survivor, was our keynote speaker at this year’s HOPE Project luncheon on September 29th. Ms. Nagy shared her story about how she was lured to Canada from Hungary—thinking she was applying for a nanny position—and was held captive for 90 days before she managed to escape. Now an advocate for survivors and an educator, Ms. Nagy shared her courageous story of survival with our guests.

Thank you to the sponsors, attendees and all that were involved to make the day a success. The event raised $60,000 and this money will be used to support delivery of critical programs and services offered by FTP. Event photography courtesy of Dutch Touch Photography.

2017-18 President & Board of Directors Elected

Get your lottery ticket and WIN great prizes

At our Annual General Meeting in June, we were delighted that Elaine Capes was re-elected and is now in her third term as Board President.

We welcomed back a few faces and introduced a couple of new ones.

FTP’s Board of Directors includes: Carissa Burton, Elaine Capes, Nicole Hambleton, Trish Keachie, Nancy Mongeon, Paul Nancekivell, Mike Post, Cynthia Rayburn & Karen Webster.

Our annual lottery is back! Win the grand prize trip for two anywhere WestJet Airlines fly, OR a $500 shopping spree at Winners|HomeSense, OR your chance to win $250 for use at Tim Hortons. Tickets are $20ea or 6 for $100. Call 519-942-4122 x243 to order by phone. Draw date is March 8, 2018. You do not need to be in attendance to win.

We won an Innovation Award from the Dufferin Board of Trade

Join us Dec 6 for the National Day of Remembrance

We are absolutely thrilled to win the Innovation Award from the Dufferin Board of Trade for our Rural Response Program. This program was designed to reduce barriers to service for underserved women living in the rural communities of north Dufferin through an innovate service model.

To learn more about this program, visit our website under Counselling— Rural Response Program.

You are invited to join FTP and the Caledon Public Library for two candlelight vigils as we mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

This is a solemn ritual in memory of a tragic day; it is also an opportunity to consider ways in which we can individually take action to end woman abuse. Details can be found on our website.

We can’t do this work alone. Please donate to Family Transition Place online at www.familytransitionplace.ca/donate/

Our Impact

“When you see that 539 women sought support for their trauma through our

various counselling programs, you can’t sense the desperation that each woman must have felt before she picked up the phone and called the crisis line.

Throughout the year, in various places, you will see our service numbers reported: how many women we have served; how many children accessed with their mothers. But numbers are just numbers. They don’t tell the stories. For the true stories, one has to look deeper than numbers.

When one sees that 103 women sought refuge in the shelter last year, the story of each woman’s courage is not expressed. There is no insight into what brought each woman to her decision to leave her home and come to FTP. What did she tell her children, to make it seem okay that they were going to have to leave their home, their friends—their father—and go to live with strangers? The numbers don’t paint the picture of how she decided what to pack, knowing she may never be able to return for anything else. Nor what extreme measures she had to take, to make sure she and her family got out of the house and to FTP safely.

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When you see that 539 number of women sought support for their trauma through FTP’s various counselling programs, there is no sense of the desperation each woman must have felt before she picked up the phone and called the crisis line. There is no understanding of the trauma and the fear she may have experienced, because of the sexual assault she suffered years ago but has never before been able to talk about. Or the shame and judgement from others that she experiences because self-medicating with narcotics, or alcohol, has helped her cope. The numbers also don’t tell the story of the client who wrote that she is alive today because of the support she received from an FTP counsellor.

1,500 students across Dufferin and Caledon received Youth Education Programs last year, which sounds impressive— but not so much as hearing directly from students about how these programs have changed how they think about themselves, how classroom culture has changed, how some students recognize that they themselves have been the bully, and how others have decided to not be bystanders anymore.

Numbers are just numbers—but each number represents a real woman and a real child; each who has her own, very personal, very real story. We work to ensure that when anyone becomes a number at FTP, that we hear her story so that we can start to help change it for the better.

But, the numbers don’t tell us anything about the stories of the women we serve.

November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month Last year, we experienced a 10% average increase in clients served per program.

We are not immune to woman abuse in our community.

This November, please show your support to end violence against women by participating in the province-wide, Wrapped in Courage Campaign. Show women that have experienced abuse that they are not alone by purchasing, wearing and telling others about your “Wrapped in Courage� purple scarf and/or purple tie—available for purchase at Scotiabank locations in Orangeville and in Bolton.

Scotiabank will match all scarf sales sold during the month of November, so be sure to get yours while quantities last. Scarves and ties are $20 each. Funds raised from this campaign will be used to support education initiatives; working to help end the cycle of violence.

Get yours today from

Please join our monthly donor program and give HOPE When you become a monthly donor, you give so much more than money.

We are looking for 20 more people that are willing to sign up and help make a difference. You choose the amount - $5, $10, $25/month or more. Should your circumstances change in the future, you can cancel at any time. Monthly budgeting allows us to better plan for the future, lowers administrative costs and helps us set more predictable budgets.

Sign up online at familytransitionplace.ca/.

For those that are giving a gift of $25 or more, we will send you a special gift as a token of our appreciation.