Nova Scotia
Violence Prevention Grants

Healthy Relationships for Youth, Antigonish
2006-2010: $180,000 over four years
Healthy Relationships for Youth promotes positive communication and healthy relationships to students as part of the grade nine health curriculum. Facilitated by a community worker and teacher (and assisted by a youth team member) students explore the harmful effects of sexism, racism and homophobia as they develop skills to help them make positive decisions about their own behaviour.

Healthy Relationships for Youth is one of four programs to receive a multi-year teen violence prevention grant from CWF. Each program uses a variety of delivery methods to determine the best approaches for preventing violence in teens’ lives. In year four, the grant recipients will participate in a cross-Canada learning event to share knowledge and best practices with other programs.

Alice Housing, Dartmouth
2008: $10,000 (2007: $20,000)
Straight Talk, a program for children who have witnessed abuse in the shelter, offers one-on-one counselling for children and mothers (separately), intervention and other support. The program also provides weekly workshops that explore participant-selected topics including safe internet use, healthy relationships, sex & sexuality. Up to 16 young people who enter the shelter with their mothers will benefit from this programming.

Society for Supportive Housing for Young Mothers, Dartmouth
2008: $24,990
SHYM will offer 12 young mothers aged 16 to 19 a weekly group program designed to reduce the risk of re-entering violent relationships. Areas of focus will include understanding woman and child abuse, systemic abuse and oppression, developing or rebuilding self-esteem and self-respect, creating healthy relationships and maintaining personal safety. This program will also offer on-site child care. 

Stepping Stone Association, Halifax
2008: $23,240
The goal of this initiative is to reduce violence in the lives of street-based sex workers and at-risk youth by expanding outreach services, building partnerships with service providers, and increasing community education and awareness. As part of their service expansion Stepping Stone will offer an evening drop-in to the community’s safe house, and a monthly safety night (for sex workers and other community members) which will provide counselling, referrals and a violence prevention presentation. Up 75 street-based sex workers will also participate in outreach toward sexually exploited youth.

Juniper House, Yarmouth
2008: $14,948 (2007: $12,000)
This initiative expands on existing efforts to heighten community awareness around intimate partner abuse of Acadian and Francophone women in the Tri-county region. CWF’s grant is helping to fund qualitative research (one-on-one interviews and focus groups with survivors of abuse and issue experts) to understand the needs of abused women in the area. Juniper House will then share the results with stakeholders in the shelter’s community and other Acadian communities with the view to developing and implementing an action plan.

Alice Housing, Dartmouth (2007) $20,000
"Healing the Bruises" provides counselling and therapeutic interventions for children who have witnessed abuse. The program also provides healthy parenting techniques for mothers so they can effectively re-embrace their parenting role (which is often dismantled by violence). CWF’s grant is being used to help fund a full-time Child/Youth counsellor. The program anticipates assisting 13 mothers and over 13 children.

Lesbian, Gay and Bi-Sexual Youth Project, Halifax (2007) $8,000
"Transmissions: Transgender Youth Discuss their Lives and Experiences" addresses the effects of gender discrimination and violence in the lives of trans-gendered youth and recommends strategies to overcome these challenges. The program provides resources, presentations and educational workshops. Participating youth have the opportunity to develop a book to raise awareness about the issue and are trained in leadership, writing, editing and book layout. Twenty to 25 participants are expected to be involved in the project.

Juniper House, Yarmouth (2007) $12,000
This program expands on existing efforts to heighten community awareness around intimate partner abuse of Acadian and Francophone women in the Tri-county region. CWF’s grant is helping to fund focus groups which will identify needs of abused women in the area. Twenty four women are expected to participate in the groups.

Bryony House/Halifax Transition House Association, Halifax $20,000 (2006)
This initiative offers women leaving the shelter, and outreach clients, intensive support finding housing, including accompanying women looking for housing, and helping them with related paperwork.

Micmac Benevolent Society, Truro: $20,000 (2005)
This program will provide Welkaqnik residents and off-reserve Mi'kmaq/Aboriginal women with access to legal and health services. The program aims to bridge the gap between women and service providers, and encourage cooperation between the reserve community, provincial service providers and the Native Council of Nova Scotia.

Leave out Violence (LOVE), Halifax: $10,000 (2004, 2005)
This program equips teens, who have experienced violence, with the skills to educate their peers, and other community members, about violence prevention. Twenty four youth (12 females & 12 males) aged 16-20 who have been victims, witnesses or perpetrators, will learn to use their experiences to teach non-violence in their communities through team-building exercises, self-esteem developing activities and role-playing.