Moving service gives women fleeing abuse a safe way out

A group that provides free moving and storage services to women experiencing abuse will be helping its first family this week in Halifax.

Shelter Movers is a service available for women when they make a decision to leave an abusive relationship. Volunteers help them get to a safe location and hold their belongings until they're ready to move on.

"We take our cue from the women experiencing abuse and with the agencies," Shelter Movers' Executive Director Marc Hull-Jacquin told Information Morning. 

Shelter Movers works with local agencies including the YWCA, Alice House and Bryony House. 

"We assess the risk that we're facing and we assemble teams of private security, volunteers, language interpreters, pet fostering, whatever the client really needs to ensure that she has a safe environment and a dignified environment to gather her things and get out," he said.

"In Canada each year there are about 93,000 cases of abuse reported to police, and those are just the reported cases. So violence against women is a problem that touches every community in the country." 

Halifax is the fourth city for Shelter Movers. They already have chapters in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

Hull-Jacquin said he's seen how important the service is for those fleeing violence. One family had just moved from a shelter into their new home. While the kids ran around "like it was Christmas," their mother spoke to Hull-Jacquin and the volunteers.

"She kind of looks over her shoulder at us, and says, 'I'm not going back. I'm never going back'," he said.

Partnering in the community

The YWCA supports women in crisis. Executive director Miia Suokonautio said the cost of moving is a "huge barrier," especially for women in poverty. 

"We are a nonprofit charity, and we have a lot of support from our community and our funders. But, this type of cost is really a huge barrier, both for our organization as well as for the women who we serve," said Suokonautio. "So, this is actually totally a round peg-round hole for us as an organization, and it also helps us unstick things for our participants, which is really our priority." 

Ultimately, Hull-Jacquin said it's not about the movers, but the people who need to be moved.

"This is their journey and it's our privilege to be on a short part of that journey with them. Our job is to make the journey, that portion of that journey, as positive and empowering as we can."

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