Agape House Purple Gala sees large turnout, dollars raised

March 7 was a night to remember as 158 people came to support Steinbach’s women’s shelter, Agape House.

Executive director Tracy Whitby said the evening raised $20,000, twice the amount raised last year and the most from any gala prior.

“We’re super excited about that and we couldn’t be more grateful for the overwhelming support that we received,” she said, noting the sponsors this year were overwhelming in their generosity.

The evening had music, food, live entertainment and a positive atmosphere. One of the main fundraisers that night was a round trip for two to anywhere WestJet flies, which continues to April 17.

“Tickets are only $10 and if somebody is interested in purchasing a ticket they can give us a call at the shelter…or follow our Facebook and Instagram pages,” said Whitby.

Women also shared their testimonials of how Agape helped them flee domestic violence. One of those women was Norie, who left her husband in June 2024 after Child and Family Services arrived at her door. Her son told his teacher about an incident that happened in the home which prompted the visit.

“When my husband put his arms around my son and my son was absolutely terrified, that look on his face made me know it was time. I needed out. I came from a broken home so I didn’t want that for my son so I stayed a lot longer than I should have, because nothing was happening with him, even though I know now that still wasn’t a good thing. That’s what made us leave. CFS coming to your house, it’s time.”

She said she was walking on eggshells all the time around her husband and referred to herself as “a shell.” After CFS was called to the home “a spark ignited within” her.

“I reached out to many resources that made me realize the situation I was living in was domestic violence. I never would have thought. Even though I wasn’t beaten, I was emotionally, financially, and psychologically abused,” Norie told the audience.

“Now we are safe happy and supported by amazing people – we are thriving. That shell of a person has transformed into a strong, independent, resilient, goal focused, and happy person.”

Norie told The Carillon the women at Agape House have been very supportive and steered her in the right direction.

“I kind of felt like I was treading water. I didn’t know where I needed to go, what was available to me, I was so worried about custody of my child because I didn’t have any of those things yet. I wasn’t focusing on myself at all. In order to be a healthy parent, you need to focus on yourself too. So, the ladies at Agape have been wonderful and very supportive.”

Since leaving her husband, Norie feels like a great weight has been lifted. She said her son always asks why she’s smiling all the time, and she tells him it’s because she’s happy.

“I don’t have any reason to be scared of what is going to happen next. My house is calm. I come home and everything is good. I don’t have to worry about someone snapping about something or yelling. It’s just this new being able to be me again and I’m slowly getting that back.”

For women and for families who are trying to leave abusive situations, the statistics show that it takes at least seven times before the victim leaves that situation, according to Tsungai Muvingi, provincial coordinator for the Manitoba Association of Women’s Shelters. Muvingi said shelters in Manitoba are at or over capacity on a consistent basis, something that Whitby agrees with as Agape House is at or over capacity. Agape saw a 30 percent increase in bed stays from the year before with 1,636 adult bed nights and 1,603 child bed nights. The women’s shelter also had 1,222 calls to its crisis line.

“Over the past four years, we’ve observed a significant year over year increase so this isn’t just a one-time occurrence, this is developing into a consistent trend,” said Whitby.

Muvingi also noted families are coming to shelters with complex traumas like substance abuse and mental health challenges.

“I have so many conversations with people who are like, ‘You know what? I’m very intelligent. I’m very smart I can see abuse happening from a mile away.’ The truth is you can’t. There’s so many different aspects to abuse. There’s financial abuse, there’s emotional, there’s physical, there’s psychological the list goes on and on. And people don’t recognize that they’re experiencing abuse,” said Muvingi.

Lt. Gov. Anita Neville was at the gala and she was moved by the stories she heard from the survivors of domestic violence.

“I was moved by two things: by their courage first of all in telling their story and I was moved by their resilience and strength in overcoming their circumstances while acknowledging that it has not been an easy road.”

Agape House is one of 10 shelters in the province. To contact Agape call 204-326-6062. If you are in crisis call Agape’s crisis line at 204-346-0028.