Family Violence Project expands support across Waterloo Region

New funding will allow FVP to improve access and care for those experiencing intimate-partner and gender-based violence throughout Wilmot and Waterloo Region. Contributed image

Amanda Modaragamage, Gazette Reporter

With financial support from the Badge of Hope Foundation and the Government of Ontario, the Family Violence Project Waterloo Region (FVP) is strengthening its impact in preventing and addressing rising levels of intimate-partner and gender-based violence across Waterloo Region, and provide better access to care in Wilmot Township.

Established 20 years ago, FVP has evolved to include multi-sectoral services under one roof, emphasizing education, prevention, advocacy and coordinated care for those experiencing intimate-partner and gender-based violence.

“We are Canada’s first co-located hub dedicated to intimate-partner violence, and now our mission affirms our commitment to a client-centred and community-based response,” said newly appointed director Pari Karem. “It’s a response that brings together under one roof multi-sectoral services to address the full continuum of gender-based violence.

“Our goal is not only to respond to a crisis when it happens, but also to end the cycle of abuse at its root. So, we aim to identify the root cause of abuse and end the cycle. We can do that through education, prevention, advocacy and coordinated services of care.”

With the funding, a director and a newly created system navigator role were established. The system navigator will work directly with survivors of abuse, helping them access supports and ensuring each person is connected to individualized care.

“The navigator role will help bridge the gaps,” said Karem. “Our goal is to provide outreach and education. We will be actively connecting with our counter partners in rural areas, such as Wilmot. We will coordinate support to reduce the number of times survivors need to tell their story and remove barriers to access by ensuring people across the region get connected to access to counselling, safety planning, police support, crisis services and access to shelter.”

Under the leadership of Karem and guided by a comprehensive new strategic plan, FVP is moving forward with a shared vision shaped by partners, survivors and grassroots organizations.

“Our governance model includes a steering committee for executive leadership, a working group for frontline collaboration and voices for survivors group, plus other committees,” said Karem. “This structure ensures that decisions are informed by data, lived experience and partnership, not by any single agency’s perspective.”

The plan outlines clear priorities for increasing FVP’s reach and impact, centring survivors in care and building trust and accessibility through community co-design. This direction positions FVP to move toward a community free from intimate-partner and gender-based violence.

“This is a systemic issue,” said Karem. “We know our work needs to be done upstream, midstream and downstream; all three levels to reach the goal of a community free of violence.”

FVP currently works closely with the Wilmot and Wellesley Resource Centre (WWRC) and Woolwich Community Services (WCS) to support the rural communities in the region.

“I want to send a message to our rural residents or all of our victims across the region,” said Karem. “You are not alone. Support exists and we are committed to making services more accessible, more connected and more respectful to the realities of life in places like Wilmot and surrounding townships.”

With a goal of creating a region free from violence, Karem says she is ready to help educate communities and guide FVP for years to come.

“My dream is to see that we are teaching our young children from school age that violence is learned behaviour, and we want to teach them not to be violent towards the people within their lives, their families and their communities,” said Karem.

“It starts within the family. We want to educate mothers to raise children in a safe environment and fathers to have compassion in the way they raise their children, to coach them and teach them to be kind, to show more compassion because at the end of the day, it is our experiences in life that make some of us be more violent toward others. So, if we want to get to the root cause and educate our families, my dream is to have a safe community where violence does not exist.”

For more information about the Family Violence Project or to access services, visit familyviolenceprojectwr.ca or email coordinator@familyviolenceprojectwr.ca.