A woman who is financially successful and a child born in a shelter have issued a challenge to donors to help Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis this month.
The challenge came on March 8, International Women’s Day, and took place at the Women in Crisis office on Elizabeth Street.
Guest speaker Lia Grimanis told the audience of over two dozen that 20 years ago, she was in such an abusive home situation she was pondering giving up high school and living on the streets just to get away.
“I didn’t even know that shelters existed back then,” Grimanis said. She learned about them from a crisis hotline, and said she made several determinations while in that shelter. One was that she would “be successful and come back as a role model” for other women needing help.
She succeeded. She has an income that is in the top one per cent in Canada, and recognized internationally as a top businesswomen. She flies helicopters, has swum with sharks, and dries a pink BMW motorcycle.
When she completed her business success, she founded Up With Women, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women and children rebuild their lives.
Grimanis now has a young helper who puts a face on the children living in women’s shelters and who gives a voice to the youngest survivors of woman abuse.
So, on International Women’s Day, 10-year old Briar Rose Perrier issued a challenge to the people of Guelph and Wellington County.
“I’m glad that me and my mom had the services available when my mom needed them,” she said. “Mom needed help because my dad was being really mean to my mom.”
Now, as the Chief Kid Officer of Up With Women she said, “I’m announcing this challenge because we need crisis and shelter services to continue to be available.”
Her mom was pregnant with Briar Rose when she first went to a shelter to escape abuse. Briar Rose’s first 11 months were spent there, too.
Briar Rose said her mom, Bridget, is now her hero. She is getting an education and getting back on her feet after abuse that started when she was 12 and continued right into her liaison with her daughter’s father.
Briar Rose’s challenge is funded by Up with Women. Grimanis is pledging to personally match funds up to $5,000 raised through the challenge website www.upwithwomen.com/guelph.htm during the month of March. At the end of March, all funds will be donated to Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.
“If it wasn’t for the shelter and services that I received, I don’t know if I would be alive today,” Grimanis said. “I will never forget that the community was there for me when I needed to escape abuse. These are important services; without them, women like me, and children like Briar, might not have a chance. We are proud to be issuing this challenge for the Guelph-Wellington area.”
Heather Field Assistant Executive Director for Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, underscored the critical need for support.
Last year, Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis sheltered over 300 women and children at its residential facility, Marianne’s Place, and counselled 1,399 women. She said for some reason, Guelph has one of the highest incidents of spousal abuse in the country. since 2006, there has been a 6.4% increase in incidents of spousal abuse reported.
She said Women in Crisis is designed to help abused women to go “on a journey from crisis to confidence.”
In addition to the face-to-face services, volunteers answered more than 8,000 calls to the 24-hour crisis line – almost twice the number of calls from 2008.
For more on Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis, see this week’s second section, Inside Wellington.
