YWCA Fresh Start start 3:Layout 1 - YWCA Canada

FRESH START your home in an emergency. Your first stop might be a neighbour.Make sure the neighbour understands your situation and can betrusted not to talk to your partner. If you can, get a key to yourneighbour’s house in case you have to go there when she is not home.Keep this key in your emergency storage place with other keys andvaluables. Practise the quickest and easiest route to her house withyour children so they can get there by themselves if they have to.Depending on your situation, you may want to make a full safety planwith a neighbour. Get to know your neighbour’s routines and let herknow about yours so that one of you will notice when something outof the ordinary happens. Agree on a code word, gesture or sign youcan use if you need help but can’t say so at the time.Safety at work and in the communityIf you’re worried that your abuser might come to your workplace toharass or harm you, consider telling a co-worker, the security personor your boss. They should be willing to work with you to develop aworkplace safety plan.You may want to consider changing your routines, such as the timeyou go to work and the route you take to get there.If your partner is very persistent, you may have to change other habitsand patterns such as where you shop or spend recreational time.Long-term safetyIf you think that sometime you might need somewhere to stay in anemergency, it’s a good idea to check out some options ahead of time.Women’s shelters provide safe, supportive short-termaccommodation for abused women and their children in manycommunities. They are free and open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Find out if your community has a shelter and, if so, where it is andhow you could be admitted to it.It felt wonderful to be safe behind those shelter walls, and I felt so muchbetter about myself when I found out that I was not the only one whohad these problems.If you stay at a shelter, you will meet other women who are in similarsituations. You and your children will have the opportunity to getsome counseling. You will be able to get information about housing,legal issues, economic supports and other topics that you will need to37