Even those who provide help sometimes need help themselves.
Dodsworth and Brown Funeral Home and Burlington Baptist Church are hosting A Night of Impact, a fundraiser for Halton Women’s Place on Sept 22. The event features live music, food and a silent auction.
“I was at Orange The World, a service done by the Burlington Ubuntu Grandwomen about women’s violence, and I knew we had to get involved,” Kim Sweet, organizer for the Burlington Baptist Church, says.
The Burlington Ubuntu Grandwomen, or BUG, are a group of women who are concerned about the plight of grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa who are living with HIV and AIDS.
Local wineries, breweries, salons and hotels have provided some of the items for the silent auction, with winners being announced at the end of the night, and proceeds will go to Halton Women’s Place.
Music from the George Arnone Big Band will greet guests, and desserts from local company Saving Grace will be served.
Halton Women’s Place is the only women’s shelter in Halton that provides emergency shelter accommodations and community outreach services to women and children who are victims of domestic abuse.
“As well known as Halton Women’s Place is, I still think there is an opportunity to educate more people about it,” Kristen Felix, funeral director at Dodsworth and Brown and an organizer for A Night of Impact, says. “It’s completely non-profit, relying on donations. Halton Women’s Place also provides so much education in Halton region, so we wanted to be able to raise enough to be able to help them continue with that.”
Between 2021 and 2022, there were 2115 calls made to the Halton Women’s Place information and support line, 279 people who accessed the transitional housing and support program, and 126 children were supported through the Bridging Families collaboration between Halton Women’s Places and Children’s Aid Society.
Felix estimates that about 200 people are expected to attend the event next weekend.
Despite originally being an organization meant to transition women from problematic living situations into something more stable, more and more women are staying longer and longer in the transitional spaces.
“A few things are happening. One is women are supposed to stay for a short while, and then they transition out which frees up space for more women, the second is that’s not happening since more women are staying longer,” Sweet says. “Halton Police are getting approximately 10 calls every day related to domestic violence.”
A Night of Impact is Friday, Sept. 22 ftom 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., at the Burlington Baptist Church.
Tickets to the event can be purchased online for $54. For more information, visit the ticketing website.
