In October of 1933 my Great Grandmother, Mary Braun, was forced out of her house in Southern Manitoba with the threat of violence. My Great Grandfather was an alcoholic and he threatened her with the gun that he kept behind the door. She had no choice but to walk 10 miles in the snow to a neighboring house whereupon she was taken in for the night and returned to her abusive home the next day.  Back then there was no where for women like Mary and her children- my Grandmother among them-  to go. It's a story my Grandmother told me on many occasions.  But today there is a shelter that serves women and children in our community. It's called  Genesis House. But despite the superhero efforts of its incredible staff, it is underfunded and lacks the resources to adequately help all the women and children in need. What's worse is that, like most communities all over the world, most people don't want to talk about domestic abuse. Even though 1 in 4 women is a victim of domestic abuse- our daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers- and its effects ripple through the generations, the silence surrounding the issue makes it very difficult to address the problem.
I want to change that. So I walk.  I walk 100 miles from Winkler, Manitoba near where the shelter is located to Winnipeg where I grew up.  And along the way I retrace the steps my Great Grandmother took that night in 1933, but in reverse.  I raise money, raise awareness and try to get people talking about the issue.
But that's not all. This year we've included a photo campaign. Notable people in communities from Manitoba to California, from New York to Toronto and Vancouver have stepped up and allowed incredible photographers Jana WIlliams (LA/NY), Antosia Fiedur (Winnipeg) and Seth Cooperman (LA/Toronto) to capture their image with a sign declaring that "Abuse Is Not Welcome In My Home." Join the campaign!  Click Take Your Own Photo, donwload a sign and post it wherever you want folks to know that Abuse Is Not Welcome In Your Home!
Join us! Donate. Walk. Take your photo. Support the shelter that supports women and children in your community.   This is the story of my family and me. What's yours?  

     

The Legislative Building!

Well, we made it.  The third time seemed easier.  And it wasn’t even that I had to cut a couple days a little short to do a fundraising event or speak at schools. It’s because of the people. Did that sound cheesy? Yeah. But it’s true.  When you’ve got people walking with you and engaging…

Day 4, 2012

Before we got to walking, Amber and I drove South fom our home-away-from-home in Morris to visit the students at MCI, a high school in the town of Gretna near the Canada-US border.  MCI is lucky to have a drama teacher called Peter Epp who was kind enough to let me interrupt a couple of…

Day 3, 2012

Day 3 has always been a tough one. Not easy to get folks to join on Day 3 and the pain in the feet, legs and back always catch up to me. Amber and I  were hoping to be able to speak at a school on the Rosseau River Reserve but their schedule changed last…