Crossroads for Women is a Moncton-based women’s shelter that has been open through the entirety of the pandemic.
Cassidy Sproul, a case manager at Crossroads, has been on the front lines with the organization.
C: Crossroads is a domestic violence shelter. So any woman or people who identify as a woman who is going through a domestic violence situation, whether that be family-related or partners, parents, siblings, stuff like that and their children, obviously.
I’m the case manager at Crossroads For women. So I do everybody’s first initial intake, so I’m the first face they see when they come to Crossroads. So my job is to kind of assess their needs during our first official meeting and see if we’re the best fit for them. Every other week after the first official meeting we assess their situation going forward. So I meet with them every other week.
Crossroads is one of the many shelters in Canada that have had to deal with the rise in domestic violence since COVID-19 hit.
Canada’s Department for Women and Gender Equality found between a 20 and 30 percent increase in domestic violence rates in some regions, with a variety of possibilities as to why these numbers are so high.
C: It has increased because of people being in close quarters all the time, and everything being shut down, so there’s not really an escape for individuals who are stuck in those kinds of situations. So an increase in stress, a loss in finances, and everybody being stuck has created a lot of uncertainty for a lot of people, so people tend to lash out on individuals living in their homes. So that’s the reason I believe it has increased a lot, and unfortunately, the people who are most equipped to deal with those kinds of situations are showing that they’re [now] less equipped because of the contributing factors, because our brains can only handle so much.
In addition to dealing with an increase in cases, the shelter has also had to tweak their previous system to maintain safe social distancing.
C: Because this is the first time this has ever happened, we had to create a whole new protocol book. So we decreased our interactions with people on the outside and with our clients to keep them safe as well as our staff safe. We have to wear masks all the time and maintain a six-foot distance when we are in close quarters. We have to sanitize every four hours and we take their temperatures twice a day, so we do wake-up calls and just before bedtime we take their temperatures and record everything. This has also increased our need for staff, so we have had to hire a lot more staff to stay on top of everything. So yeah, it’s been stressful.
The delivery of some of their services has had to change as well, however many of them are returning to a “new normal”.
C: Our crisis line has been open 24/7 and it’s posted on our website. Our website also has links to our outreach workers and stuff like that, so we’ve offered outreach. During the pandemic we weren’t meeting face-to-face, it was over the phone, but since everything has been lifted, they have started meeting their clients face-to-face. So outreach is something that people in the community have access to, and our outreach workers go out and meet them wherever they feel comfortable. Or they can come to our shelter location and meet us there. We’re also working on opening a text line, because right now we only have a crisis line, so we’re hoping the text line can better aid people in situations where they may not be able to talk on the phone.
So on our website, we have our outreach workers and their emails. I know not a lot of people use email, but it is another way to, you know, send a quick email to Crossroads and delete it afterwards. We do also accept – we get a lot of Facebook messages to our Facebook page, so that’s also another thing, you know, leave their name and number in the Facebook message and delete that afterwards. I’ve seen a lot of people do that.
Crossroads also has a variety of other services that they offer or can point people towards.
C: So as far as Crossroads goes, we do have a lot of programs under the Crossroads umbrella that not a lot of people know about. We have a sexual assault centre and sexual assault volunteers that accompany people to the hospitals — not so much during the pandemic, but it used to happen a lot in the past. We would get a call from the hospital and then we would get a volunteer to accompany them. We also have second stage and third stage housing, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be a person living in our shelter that has access to those different programs. Somebody from the community can apply for them too. They’re usually year-long programs where moms and children can apply so they have safe and affordable housing to get out of their current situation.
Community members can also get involved with Crossroads as volunteers.
There are a variety of jobs that need to be done, some of which are understaffed because of COVID.
C: We’re always looking for volunteers. Right now, our biggest issue is suppers. Because our staff is so busy with the COVID stuff, and trying to help our clients as best we can, suppers are kind of the things we look at last. But it is a huge pressure for our staff to complete this. So our new policy does indicate that a volunteer would need to wear a mask, face shields, through the entire meal prep, however, we do provide those. So volunteers for cooking are always needed! We also need volunteers for organizing or cleaning and stuff like that outside of the shelter, so they’re not necessarily inside would be helpful. We’ve also had volunteers in the past cook meals at home and bring it in so that helps us too.
Another big question for many people is what to do when they are witnessing or know about domestic violence situations.
Cassidy explains that supporting the person and their decisions and not pressuring them into anything is key to being as helpful as possible.
C: That’s a really tricky situation because we always want to help. For sure, if somebody’s life is being threatened, always contact authorities, um, but the most beneficial thing you can do as a friend or as a son or daughter or family member is to approach them cautiously. And don’t force the conversation, approach them calmly. It’s really hard for that person to acknowledge what’s going on but you can always reassure them that they’re not alone and you’re always there for them if they want to talk. But the last thing you want to do is say “you guys should break up, this isn’t right,” — you really need to say non-judgemental and continue to be supportive on their terms.
As well as avoiding the word “abusive”, because usually, people will go into a shut-down mode. As soon as you use that word, they become very defensive of their partner or father, mother, or what have you, and always allow them to make their own decisions. Don’t force anything on them, don’t push them or pressure them, because they’re probably going through that thing with their partner. The last thing that you want to do is show them that your friendship is just like what they’re trying to get away from. Something not to do would be like, pushing the conversation or being super aggressive about it. Obviously, if they’re open to the conversation, they can always contact us and we can offer them the best support we can.
We are always there for people in the community in Moncton or outside of Moncton. We can be accessed 24/7 so please don’t hesitate to reach out. Also during these times, check in on your friends and family because a lot of them are going through things that you don’t necessarily see. The slightest amount of care she can make a huge difference.
If you or anyone you know is in a domestic violence situation and would like to reach out to Crossroads, or you would like to volunteer, please visit their website at crossroadsforwomen.ca.
