A lot has changed in the last few months.

What hasn’t changed is our unwavering commitment to ensure the safety of the women and children we serve. Unfortunately, this has come with some considerable and worrying costs.

For women who are experiencing intimate partner violence, social distancing measures have been extremely isolating, placing them in even greater danger.

We must urgently find a way to cover the additional expenses so that we can ensure all at Interval House — residents and front-line staff — are safe and healthy.

Here is how we have been responding to keep everyone safe:

* Changes in process and an immediate investment in our technology so that all non-Residential Program staff can work from home. This protects our front-line staff and the women and children that we serve.

* Active and continuous screening of onsite clients and staff with procedures in place if quarantine becomes necessary.

* Increased sanitation procedures to include twice daily disinfection services, seven days per week.

* Creatively providing employment, housing, and counselling services to our Building Economic Self-Sufficiency Program (BESS) community clients by phone, video conferencing and email.

* Maintaining open crisis lines around the clock to clients seeking counselling in times of crisis.

* Increasing food supplies for the women and children who are confined to the shelter during the day.

* We are also prepared to introduce new measures as required.

We know that these are difficult times for so many of us and we understand if you’re struggling too. But we're counting on you, now more than ever, to help ensure we can rise to the challenges before us. If you're in a position to give, we hope you'll consider a special financial donation.

Make a one-time gift, or consider signing up for or increasing your monthly giving to provide continued, reliable support.

Thank you so much for standing with us. We are all in this together.