vacation....of sorts

I get two weeks vacation every year, and I can take my overtime as lou time whenever appropriate. I'm just not very good at it.

I'm suppose to be on vacation this week. So far I've finished a report for our Community Matters project and wrote up our strategic plan. I still have one more grant proposal to write and then I can be free and clear to relax for a day.

But it's hard to relax when I keep reading about the death of women, and family members, at the hands of their spouse, two in 24 hours this week.

We react in horror, but the reality is, what are we doing as a society to protect these families?

We don't make it easy for women to get out of abusive relationships. For most women leaving an abusive relationship means instant poverty, further abuse by the justice system and no real hope.

The United Way funds two front line programs for violence prevention: Women's House Serving Bruce and Grey and The Men's Program.

The Women's House is a crisis shelter for women seeking to escape abusive relationships. Funding to the Women’s House covers a portion of the shortfall in funding from the Ministry of Community and Social Services in order to sustain the essential programs and services already in place. In addition to shelter services Women’s house also provides outreach counseling in 9 communities throughout Bruce and Grey, and is launching the new Sexual Assault Services out of Owen Sound.

The Men's Program is an anger management program for men who have been either court referred to deal with their anger, or who self identify that they are not being safe with their anger. The Men’s Program only receives funding from the Ministry of the Attorney General for men who are court mandated. The United Way has been funding the community-referred portion of the Men’s Program. In 2005, 75 men self referred them for help to the Men’s Program, getting the help they needed BEFORE committing a crime.

It's never enough and sometimes it doesn't seem like you're making a difference at all. Women continue to die at the hands of their partners.