Since 2018, Shelter Movers Vancouver has helped 800 vulnerable women and 1,300 children flee violent homes in Metro Vancouver.

About 150 volunteers from the charity have helped Metro Vancouver women and children flee gender-based violence. The charity helps break the cycle of violence by helping victims transition from trauma and depression to temporary refuge and later to a better life. Since the charity’s launch in Vancouver in 2018, it has handled nearly 1,700 moves, helping 800 women, 1,300 children, and 200 pets across 19 municipalities in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.

Victims are referred to the charity by about 200 organizations, including police, Crown prosecutors, health authorities, and community agencies. The move is not always a smooth process, as the volunteers need to understand the victims’ needs and the risks involved at the scene. About a quarter of the charity’s moves require police or security to escort the volunteers. The remaining moves are lower-risk moves, taking place either when the victims are safely in transition houses and their abusers have consented to their belongings being collected or when the women are being relocated from temporary lodgings to permanent homes.

Their belongings are stored at the charity’s Vancouver storage facility, sometimes for weeks or months, until the women can find new homes. The women who have received help from the charity are immensely grateful for the support. The Vancouver chapter recently doubled the number of cities it serves to 19, adding communities such as the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack to its area of service.

Source: Lori Culbert, Vancouver