I Will Walk Beside You concert supports survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking.

Nancy's House offers residents safety, stability and time to rebuild their lives. During their two year stay, women regain their self-confidence, personal agency and hope.

Friends of Restorations Second Stage Homes (RSSH) are organizing a benefit concert, I Will Walk Beside You, to help fund the important work of supporting survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking.

The fundraising event on Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 3 pm celebrates musical diversity including genres from rock to classical piano and Ukrainian folk songs to Broadway standards performed by the music director and soloists from St. John’s United Church — the event’s sponsor.

RSSH opened their groundbreaking second stage transitional home, Nancy’s House, in July 2022 to house survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking from Hamilton and Halton region.

Named for the charity’s founding chair, Nancy Wing, this home offers residents safety, stability and time to rebuild their lives. During their two year stay, women regain their self-confidence, personal agency and hope.

Despite second stage housing playing a crucial role in recovery, it is often overlooked and chronically underfunded which means it's in extremely short supply especially given current market rental prices.

It was through the RSSH survivor-led peer support group that assists survivors already living independently within the community that staff realized some women leaving very structured housing environments with around the clock supports had more difficulty transitioning to independent living.

For second stage housing to work, residents need a stabilization period as well as commitment to long-term recovery. Women participate in programing while searching for permanent long-term housing. They are also encouraged to take responsibility for their finances as well as their social independence by arranging outings and engaging with the community. This supported independence is critical to building self-confidence and personal agency.

One of the first things Jennifer Lucking, Executive Director of RSSH, and her team do after welcoming a new resident is to begin thinking about permanent housing. With only 4,000 subsidized units across Halton, applicants are generally on wait lists for seven to ten years. Meanwhile, a market rate bachelor apartment costs over $1,100 per month and a one-bedroom over $1,500 per month (2022).

While Hamilton boasts 13,124 subsidized housing units, the wait list has 6,110 households on it. Then, there is the other list of about 2,000 names waiting for approval to get added to the existing wait list.

Currently, a 600 square-foot one-bedroom new build condo rents for between $1,900 and $3,600 plus utilities in Hamilton. Lower priced units could be located in less desirable neighbourhoods, but could just as easily reflect a real estate agent under pricing the unit to start a bidding war among applicants. 

Most of the women staying at Nancy’s House rely on Ontario Works (O/W) or Ontario Disabilities Support Program (ODSP) for their monthly income. OW provides $733 to cover all expenses including rent while ODSP provides $1,308 for a single adult with no dependents.

Currently, ODSP recipients can earn $1,000 per month before the provincial government claws back 75 cents from each additional dollar earned. Since most of the jobs the women find pay minimum wage, that means they can work about 15 hours a week before the provincial government claws back their ODSP payments.

However, it's important to consider what amount of work is appropriate given the trauma these women have lived through, the disabilities they may now have as well as the precarity of their situation — two years to find stable full-time work, affordable permanent housing and start re-engaging with their community.

The shelter allowance for OW and ODSP recipients, $390 and $582 respectively, is used to cover RSSH program fees that include leasing Nancy’s House, home maintenance, utilities, programming activities, groceries and more.

The program fee is insufficient to cover all of the costs of housing survivors at Nancy’s House, which means the charity relies on a variety of funding opportunities including private donations, foundation grants and other fundraising activities.

Jennifer Lucking,RSSH executive director, at the entrance to Nancy’s House Credit: Jennifer Lucking

Donated hygiene products help residents stretch their monthly income farther. Clothing donations, on the other hand, are more difficult to deal with due to sizing issues as well as a lack of storage space which means many of these donations have to be passed on to partner organizations.

Unfortunately, there’s always a need for funding whether it’s to pay peer-support staff, cover counselling and trauma-informed care, or just pay for the propane that heats the house.

Items gifted to RSSH via their Amazon Wishlist — the easiest way to get donated items to them Credit: Jennifer Lucking

Last year, RSSH received funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada to develop a survivor-led and survivor-informed educational toolkit for both professional and personal caregivers to better intervene when they suspect trafficking and to better support survivors.

Two peer advocates, RSSH staff with lived experience of trafficking or exploitation, are leading the development of the toolkit. Survivors from the community have been brought onto the project through an advisory committee as well as a survivor forum event.

The survivors involved in the project hope their lived experience will better inform the toolkit to empower caregivers to better care for survivors and those at risk of trafficking. The free online toolkit will be available in 2026.

In 2023, RSSH received a post-Covid grant to update their governance polices and by-laws as well as to develop a 2024-29 strategic plan.

Over the next five years, RSSH strategic goals include implementing a fully functioning skills-based governance model; increased and stable funding; creating a partnership model that facilitates a seamless transition for survivors; increased visibility in the community; and increased people capacity.

Lucking would like Small Change readers to know, “We get a lot of referrals and constantly have a wait list because housing is just very dire right now. We feel very fortunate to be in a position where we can at least provide housing to three people. We know it’s a drop in the bucket, but that’s why we collaborate because we’re all trying to access resources and navigate what’s available to be able to provide people with the support that they need and deserve.”

The women who call Nancy's House home are referred by service providers including Safe Hope Home in Durham Region, Halton Women’s Place, Elizabeth Fry Peel/Halton, and Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services (SAVIS) of Halton.

One of the residents living at Nancy’s House would like Small Change readers to know, “What I like most about Nancy’s House is being given this opportunity to reach independence while having support.”

Photo: Bedroom at Nancy’s House Credit: Jennifer Lucking

Lucking, who is also co-chair of the Hamilton Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition, told Small Change, “We are cognisant of our capacities and can only provide so much, so we do have relationships in the community to be able to cross-reference. Sitting on the Hamilton Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition is really important to us so we can tap into those resources and knowledge and share what we are seeing on the ground.”

Lucking wants to see survivors in positions of leadership which is why RSSH has survivors on staff responsible for developing and leading programming. They also have a survivor of sexual exploitation on their Board of Directors in a volunteer position. As executive director, Lucking oversees policy development and ensures staff provide feedback before it's implemented.

Another resident shared, “What I like most about Nancy’s House is being able to have the opportunity to reclaim my life.”

Plan to attend the I Will Walk Beside You concert on Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 3:00 pm at St John's United Church, Oakville, at the corner of Dunn and Randall streets.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased using the QR code above or at the door.

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Restorations Second Stage Homes
P.O. Box 99036 Stoney Creek, ON L8J 2P7
Jennifer@RestorationsCanada.org | (905)962-REST(7378)
www.RestorationsCanada.org 

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