La Maison Interlude House for Women Victims of Domestic Violence
Unfortunately, we know some women in our entourage who needed help from Maison Interlude House in the past. But fortunately, for them an organism like this one is operating in our region since 1983.
Fast forward today we had this idea of helping women shelters to fulfill their needs for arts & crafts materials. We know arts as the possibility to help with healing, self-discovery and resilience.
Their Story
Founded in 1983 by committed women, Maison Interlude House has always put women victims of domestic violence and their children at the heart of its development.
It's hard to imagine but it was once difficult for people in the community to believe violence against women was a thing. And I have to say that unfortunately, to this day, it is still something very taboo. Their women pioneers had to fight against a lot of preconceived ideas, and had to raise awareness via the local newspapers.
When the shelter finally opened, on its very first night of operation, a woman knocked on the door. This lady was carrying newspaper clippings about the creation of Maison Interlude House. This very first client was eagerly awaiting the opening of the house so she could finally leave an abusive relationship. A relationship that had lasted for decades.
I invite you to watch their Youtube video to hear more about the foundation of the house.
Maison Interlude House in Statistics
On average, each year, Maison Interlude House:
- Houses 50 women and children
- Supports 600 women and 100 children through outreach services
- Assists 250 women through the Transitional and Housing Support Program
- Offers over 500 matches for transportation and babysitting through the Main dans la Main network
- Holds several support and development groups
- Receives over 1,000 crisis line calls and over 4,000 information calls
- Responds to over 2,000 text and chat messages
- Educates 1,000 people to the problem of violence through community and school awareness and education activities.
How we Helped
After being in contact with one of the woman from their team we establish what were their needs regarding arts & crafts.
We settled on providing paints, colouring books, pencils, markers, etc. We also decided, because we just received amazing donations from the community, to make small boxes to offer individuals surprises to the women and children in need. Plus, we were just before Easter and we also received materials for Easter loot bags. So it was possible to prepare little surprise boxes with craft activities for the children.
Have a Peek at What we Prepared for Them
