
January 30, 2025 · 0 Comments
Since 2016, the Rural Response Program (RRP) at Family Transition Place (FTP) has provided safety, support and hope by reducing barriers to service for women living in the rural communities of north Dufferin.
The RRP strives to decrease identified obstacles to service (i.e. transportation, isolation, technology, childcare, and access to after-hours service), develop a crisis response strategy for responding to rural needs, and increase collaboration, presence and awareness across existing services and community members.
A 5-year grant from Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) in 2019 enabled the RRP to provide expanded services, including testing and developing a promising practice model for Gender Based Violence (GBV) services in rural areas.
Rural women are at particular risk of violence and face geographic, social, economic and rural livelihood barriers to accessing services.
The rapidly growing, diverse, and rural communities in Dufferin County, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted additional intersectional barriers to accessing the already limited GBV services.
Based out of the Mel Lloyd Centre in Shelburne, a satellite office of FTP, the RRP allows for up to six crisis counselling sessions, ongoing counselling, providing women with abuse education, safety planning, and community referrals.
The service delivery model allows our counsellors to offer virtual, in-person, and mobile services – meeting women where it is safe and convenient.
This innovative program also focuses on reaching and addressing barriers to GBV services for populations who have traditionally been underserved by GBV services, including newcomer and immigrant populations (to Canada and Dufferin County), women working and/or living on farms, women 55-plus, Indigenous women, and women from isolated communities (e.g., Old Order Mennonites).
For the duration of this initial five-year pilot, FTP tested many promising practices. The RRP’s promising practices transformed rural GBV service delivery by meeting survivor needs outside of a main service centre while growing referral networks and community awareness through targeted outreach.
There is much evidence to show that the RRP added significant capacity to meet the needs of GBV survivors in Dufferin County:
Evaluation results over the last five years have shown that the program approach is an effective way to build capacity for GBV services in rural areas. The program increased access to GBV services in north Dufferin communities and has continued to grow a network of community referral partners.
Since the WAGE funding ended in February 2024, FTP has successfully secured annualized funding from the Ministry of Children Community and Social Services (MCCSS) through their Rural Realities funding stream – recognizing the unique barriers to GBV services experienced by women in rural Canada.
Even with the annualized funding from the Ministry, the program requires an additional $110,000 to continue to meet the needs identified in the community.
Much work has been done through this pilot program to help eliminate the barriers and health inequities that women in rural Dufferin County experience, but more needs to be done. The Rural Response Program will continue to be a fundraising priority for FTP. The risk to the women who rely on this program is simply too great for it to end.
To learn more, including how you can support this vital program, please contact Brennan Solecky at brennan@familytransitionplace.ca or 519-942-4122 ext. 240.
If you or someone you know needs support, compassionate staff are available to help 24/7. Call 1-800-265-9178. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.