Safety Should Never Ask for Sacrifice
This is community. This is where I came when I left my situation and chose to raise my children as a single mother. And this is why this matters to me.
The holidays are often portrayed as warm and celebratory. For many women in Simcoe County and beyond, they are not. They can be isolating, volatile, and unsafe. Risk does not pause for December. In many cases, it escalates.
Leaving an unsafe situation already requires extraordinary courage. It is not one decision, but many. Where to go. Who to trust. What happens next.
For women with pets, there is often an added and unbearable layer. Pets are family. They are comfort, routine, and emotional grounding. Too often, they are also used as leverage. Fear of what will happen to an animal can keep someone trapped far longer than they should be.
That is why the pet-friendly shelter at La Maison Rosewood in Simcoe County is so important.
It recognises reality. It removes a real barrier to safety. It understands that dignity, protection, and logistics are inseparable.
This is trauma-informed care done properly. Not symbolic. Not theoretical. Built around how people actually live.
I support this work not only as a professional advocate, but through lived experience. I know how difficult it is to navigate these decisions in real time, and how critical it is to have someone who listens without judgement and understands the full context.
Over the years, I have become a trusted confidante for women navigating unsafe situations. That trust comes from showing up consistently, speaking plainly, and advocating from both knowledge and experience. Awareness matters. Knowing options exist matters. Especially during the holidays and as we move into a new year.
In Simcoe County, there are organisations quietly doing this work every day. Alongside La Maison Rosewood, women can also access supports through
Huronia Transition Homes, Barrie Women and Children’s Shelter, and province-wide pathways like ShelterSafe, which helps women find the right shelter and resources across Ontario and Canada.
If you are reading this and quietly wondering whether change is possible, know this: you are not weak for staying as long as you did, and you are not unrealistic for wanting more safety, peace, and stability. Support exists. Paths forward exist. You do not have to have everything figured out to take the next step.
My hope for the new year is simple. That women who need support know they are not alone. That they know services exist locally. And that safety does not have to come at the cost of everything they love.
Safety should never ask for sacrifice.
