In wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the women and families supported by the Big Hill Haven Women's Shelter, face an additional layer of stress; concerns for their health as well as their safety.

Tara McFadden is the Fund Development and Public Relations Officer for the Big Hill Haven, and she says that their most recent donation from Cochrane GM will make a difference for women and kids fleeing domestic violence, and provide them with an additional layer of protection.

"They actually donated 1,000 face masks to Big Hill Haven," says McFadden. "We're going to be passing those out to our clients which is one more way we can help the women and families in our care."

Cochrane GM's General Manager Rob Dzikewich says that they wanted to aid the women's shelter in their mission.

"When GM Canada supplied us with 1,000 face masks for donation to a local community organization, we knew immediately that we wanted to donate to Big Hill Haven," says Dzikewich.

McFadden says that the need for domestic violence services continues to rise in Cochrane and charitable donations allow Big Hill Haven to take great strides in providing a safe haven for victims of abuse.

"Any time the stress increases, we see the demand and need for our services increase," says McFadden. "We've really managed to step it up this year. We're now providing 55 hours of outreach supports so we can make sure we're there when women and their families need advice or need help in leaving situations involving domestic violence or finding ways to get through that situation."

From October to December 2020, Big Hill Haven served 22 clients and provided 150 nights of shelter.

The expense of face masks is an added burden for many of Big Hill Haven's clients. Co-Founder and Program Manager, Patti Fisher says this donation will help to alleviate that stress.

She says "This donation will allow us to distribute masks to all of our clients and their children so that this is one less thing they need to worry about."