Hiatus House expands tree lighting to four new cities for November

Hiatus House lit a purple tree in Windsor’s City Hall Square on Monday evening. The organization is now bringing similar ceremonies to Essex, LaSalle, Leamington, and Lakeshore for the first time.

This marks the 15th annual Shine the Light event. The campaign runs through November to mark Woman Abuse Prevention Month. The colour purple represents strength, justice, and solidarity with survivors. The group urges residents to turn their cities purple during the month.

Maggie Durocher, the Coordinator of Fundraising and Development, spoke at the Windsor event. She noted that the organization often hears from new survivors of intimate partner violence every year. "If you see something, say something and that is so important," Durocher said. "That is a conversation we’ve had with people who have lost loved ones and it’s like their friends knew but they wouldn’t say anything and that’s just heartbreaking."

Durocher added that a local politician who served as a speaker last year shared her experience surviving intimate partner violence. "It really made her quite emotional," Durocher said.

The group was originally designed to operate quietly. Durocher said the community now needs to know where to find help. "People have to know who you are, where you are, and how do they reach out to us," she said. "It’s getting that message out there, telling them where to look, where to go, who to ask for."

Hiatus House continues to fundraise for A Place to Heal, a transitional housing project. The building will contain 40 units. The organization is currently $800,000 away from the amount needed to start construction.

Future events are scheduled for this week. The Essex ceremony starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Essex Town Hall. The LaSalle event begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Civic Centre. Two events take place Friday: Leamington at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall and Lakeshore at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. Hiatus House will also participate in a Charity Pasta night at the Caboto Club on Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.