News & Events

Embrave: Agency to End Violence (formerly known as Interim Place) invites you to:

1. Register your team and set a fundraising target to raise funds to support survivors!
2. Engage your community to raise critical funds for Embrave!
3. Make your move in your community or join us on Sunday August 24th!

Together we will make our move on Sunday August 24th, 2025 at 9:30 AM at J.C. Saddington Park.

If you're not able to join us in person on August 24th, you can still walk, bike, or roll in your community! (Make sure to send us a photo so we can share it!)

Embrave is excited to bring back our in-person event! All those registered for the event are invited to join us for the family-friendly event including speakers, walk, vigil ceremony, lunch and children's activities.

We walk to raise awareness about the issue of gender-based violence and to remember those who have lost their lives to an act of violence. All funds raised at this event will directly support Embrave’s work in providing shelter, support, counselling, & advocacy for survivors of gender-based violence in our community. All funds raised at this event will directly support Embrave’s work in providing shelter, support, counselling, and advocacy for survivors of gender-based violence in our community.

We hope you can join us in taking steps to end gender-based violence! Visit our event website to register as an individual or a team! Join us for a scenic walk right by the water followed by lunch and family-friendly activities. Kids and pups are all welcome!

Follow this link to read OAITH's Press Releases.

OAITH is pleased to introduce our five-year strategic plan to our members, ally organizations, partners and supporters who have worked alongside us.

With all levels of government invested in addressing gender-based violence (GBV) through the implementation of a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, we stand united to improve outcomes for survivors.  OAITH is rooted in our commitment to working with our members and ally organizations as you deliver a broad range of services to survivors, their families and your broader community.

The Strategic Plan Includes:

• OAITH Member Profile
• Approach
• Engagement Journey
• Vision & Mission
• Values and Guiding Principles
• Strategic Priorities

Access the Strategic Plan:

https://bit.ly/OAITHStratPan2024

Good Morning, 

My name is Marlene Ham and I work as the Executive Director at the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses.  

First I would like to thank the government for the collaboration with OAITH and our members over the last number of years with investments throughout the pandemic and more recently through Ontario STANDS.  Your support of our primary campaign Wrapped in Courage always delivers impact and leaves us with hope that we can create a better future together. 

I am here today however because I want to work with the government to find a way for these organizations to move from surviving to thriving.  In 2019 I began talking and presenting to the government that the shelters were experiencing a bottleneck crisis.  I am sure you can imagine how much more difficult this has actually become.  The unintended consequence for survivors is they must stay longer in shelters.  The longer people stay, the more others have to be turned away to other services, possibly leaving them in danger and contributing to the risk of femicide in your community.  

This is not the system that was designed to support survivors of gender-based violence.  Unfortunately after decades of under-funding, no affordable housing and an increasing population, this is what we’re left with.  

 I wanted to share a few highlights from our Provincial Budget Survey so that this government can understand the barriers and the importance of investing into your existing services.  A full submission will be provided to the Ministry of Finance.  

60 Million Can Solve Problems and Move to Solutions 

1. There is capacity within the system to provide more beds-they just need the funding to do so.  Money used in this way will instantly serve more and improve the safety of survivors and their children. 
2. Nearly 85% of participating shelters were hiring on the date they filled in the survey 
3. Shelters have a precarious workforce with 40% of them being contract, relief and part time workers and nearly 60% are indicating a relief shortage.
4. There is a significant pay disparity with no base rate of pay that exists in the sector.   
5. Fundraising to pay hydro and health benefits isn’t sustainable AND not having shelter and the numerous outreach programs they provide isn’t feasible for our communities-we need to collaborate on the solution.  
6. More than 30 % of our members operate second stage and transitional housing, however more could be developed if you reduce the red tape, costly application requirements and ensure there is operational funding.  
7. 75% have indicated they must fundraise for core programs. 
8. Increased expenditures are being reported for insurance, health benefits and cyber insurance while IT costs now represent 10% of their budgets with no dedicated funding for this. 

Despite all of these challenges one of our members describes their success this past year by saying: 

“Our team has assisted women and children with some of the most complex files we have ever dealt with that touch every system from family and criminal court, mental health and addictions, child protection, education and developmental services.  Increasingly, doors are being closed  in our faces as we have fewer and fewer options for women in the legal system, the housing system and healthcare and still our team delivers positive change for women.”  

 I hope that budget 2025 will deliver for them too.  

Thank you for your time

OAITH has submitted our recommendations to the Ministry of Finance and presented them to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs for Provincial Budget 2024.

To learn more about our recommendations:
Submission to Ministry of Finance
Deputation to the Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs

On October 13th, OAITH submitted a policy brief to Justice Canada focused on exploring alternatives to the criminalization of coersive control.  Read the full text here.

OAITH has made a submission to the Ministry of Finance and the Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs focusing on 10 key priorities to improve survivor safety and the quality support they deserve through a 60 Million Dollar investment. OAITH will be sure to measure how Budget 2023 is responsive to our recommendations and the value placed on creating safety and justice for survivors of gender-based violence and those working to end gender-based violence in Ontario.

OAITH Submission to Ministry of Finance on Budget 2023

OAITH Deputation to Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs

OAITH is pleased to announce a new course is now available within the OAITH Training Hub! 
Developed in collaboration with Nicole Bernhardt and Annelies Cooper of NSB Consulting, "Taking Action in Our Spheres of Influence: Intersectional Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Gender-Based Violence" will assist learners in: 

• building an anti-racism and anti-oppression approach within their own spheres of influence;
• recognizing positionality and developing personal accountability strategies; 
• creating racially equitable environments and discussing racial microaggressions; 
• establishing institutional policies and practices that promote anti-racism and anti-oppression, such as collecting demographic data and shifting organizational culture; and
• connecting with community-based anti-racism and anti-oppression efforts

This course was created to supplement a new resource now available in the OAITH Resource Library: "Taking Action in Our Spheres of Influence: An Intersectional Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Gender-Based Violence Framework."

Access the Course Outline via: https://bit.ly/ARAOCourseOutline
See the full list of OAITH Courses: https://www.oaith.ca/train/current-courses.html

June 24th, 2022 will go down in history as a dark day for women everywhere.

Today's landmark decision will have catastrophic effects on the lives and rights of women across and beyond the United States, in particular, survivors of gender-based violence. We stand with those hearing the news of the U.S Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade in shock, horror, and in deep disappointment. It is unthinkable that after fifty years of women having the right to make decisions about their own bodies, the Constitution no longer guarantees the right to an abortion in the United States.

Reproductive rights are women's rights. Women's rights are human rights. The right to choose is an essential protection as we move towards structural gender equity. In the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg "Abortion prohibition by the state…denies them full autonomy and full equality with men."

As a result of this decision, access to abortions will be limited for the most marginalized communities in society, including Indigenous and Black women, women living in poverty, women who are precariously employed, women with disAbilities and for those living in rural and remote communities. The denial of reproductive rights through this decision marks another act of gender-based violence enacted upon women that will ultimately hinder the efforts of the last fifty years towards gender equality. As Indigenous, Black and racialized women, women with disabilities, gender-diverse individuals and girls continue to experience disproportionate rates of gender-based violence, they too will be disproportionately impacted by this decision. Historically, Black women, Indigenous women and women with disAbilities have been subject to state violence and have been denied reproductive rights, including through forced reproduction and coerced sterilization. Today, Black and Indigenous women continue to face barriers to accessing safe healthcare. Additionally, the voices of gender-diverse communities are so often silenced within discussions surrounding reproductive rights.

We feel the grief of feminist, reproductive, and human rights activists and the women that will be most impacted, and we stand beside those committed to resistance and action in the face of this devastating decision.