NESS Fund

YWCA Muskoka National Emergency

Survivor Support Fund is now closed.

Funding for this program has been fully allocated. The fund is now closed, and we do not anticipate additional funding becoming available this year. We are incredibly grateful to our funders for more than four years of support, which has allowed us to provide funding directly to our community. We hope additional funding opportunities will become available in the future.

In Canada, every 6 days a woman loses her life to gender-based violence. Survivors of gender-based violence frequently say that not having enough money was one of the primary reasons they stayed in abusive situations. Without help to leave, survivors have few options available to them to protect themselves and their families. For survivors who are staying at emergency shelters, a lack of financial resources means their ability to start fresh is still at risk. Not having money to pay first and last month’s rent or other expenses means that survivors and their families have to stay longer in shelters. This leads to many shelters not having enough space, forcing them to turn survivors and their children away.

So, we took action.

To meet one of the most frequent and urgent needs voiced by survivors, YWCA Canada, in partnership with YWCA Muskoka launched Canada’s first National Emergency Survivor Support Fund (the NESS Fund). This initiative provided women, gender-diverse people and their families with financial support to leave unsafe homes or emergency shelters/precarious housing situations and begin their healing journeys.

Read the impact reports below for more information!

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“Thank you for helping me at a very vulnerable and hard time in my life.”

“I am leaving an abusive relationship. I was so terrified that I would have no choice but to go back to keep a roof over my children's heads… I live in a place where I don't know anyone who was not initially friends with my husband. I felt so alone. This money will give me the time I need to find strength and develop a plan.”

“This is an amazing program and I wish all women could have access to this. I feel fortunate to have even heard about the program. I don't think I realized until recently, like in the last couple months recently and I'm 31 years old, how I was surrounded by toxic cycles and how close I've been or am to not breaking those cycles. The housing crisis almost broke me but having secured housing for my daughter and I, I know this feels like all the hard work I've put in has been worth it. I will continue to learn about boundaries and self-love as well as love for others, and kindness, because it's not ever only about me anymore it's about me and empowering my daughter.”