Family Transition Place to benefit from Caledon chapter of 100 women

September 20, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jasen Obermeyer
Family Transition Place (FTP) in Orangeville will soon be benefiting from the efforts of the 100 Women Who Care Caledon.
The women gathered for their third meeting last Wednesday at the Caledon Ski Club. There are about 50 who attended the meeting, though it was announced that the organization now has more than 100 members, which those in attendance were very pleased to hear.
Participants were able to nominate an organization ahead of time, with three of them being randomly drawn. Each participant had pledged to contribute $100. The nominators were then given five minutes to make their pitch to those in attendance.
Councillor Jennifer Innis spoke on behalf of FTP, saying the shelter has been at capacity the past nine years, helping those in Dufferin-Caledon, including women, men and children. Part of the problem is with Caledon being part of the Region of Peel, they have limited space, she said, with the closest shelters being in Orangeville and Brampton.
She explained last year, 65 women received addiction and outreach support. FTP helped 98 women and 59 children find refugee, while clinical counsellors worked with 361 women over the age of 16.
“I wish that I could stand here and tell you that domestic violence doesn’t happen in Caledon,” she said, adding they need to join to create awareness and end the stigma toward it.
Innis added Caledon OPP in 2014 responded to 387 domestic calls, in which 106 charges were laid. Since then, “those numbers have increased.”
Last week’s efforts raised a total of $7,300 in an hour.
The other nominees were the Caledon Parent-Child Centre (CPCC), and the National Wildlife Centre of Canada.
Angela McKinnon spoke on behalf of CPCC, saying they rely on four full-time dedicated employees as well as donations.
“Funding for Ontario early years agencies has been frozen since 2003,” she said. “As a result, most of our families who need our support are being chosen by lottery.”
Jane Ansara spoke for the National Wildlife Centre of Canada, saying she moved from Toronto recently to get close to nature, and they are looking for more permanent and mobile facilities to treat animals, both locally and nationally. They are also looking to make Caledon their home centre.
“We have expertise to help animals,” she said. “We just need community support to reach them.”
The centre currently has one mobile hospital, the only credited wildlife hospital in Ontario.
Ansara described recently when some animals were brought from the Niagara and Ottawa regions, and they had to send them back to the wild after repairing their broken bones.
“It isn’t ideal,” she observed. “Patients need to be kept in doctors’ care, for monitoring; to be sure they become stable. But without a permanent facility, this is the only way we can help.”
For more information on the organization, go to www.100womenwhocarecaledon.com

Nearly 50 women were listening to three representatives of respective organizations at last week’s meeting of Caledon’s 100 Women Who Care chapter. The organization’s third meeting, at Caledon Ski Club, saw Family Transition Place as their latest recipient, with $7,300 being raised in just one hour.
Photo by Jasen Obermeyer