A Safe Night … A Good
Night
By: Mandy Bennett, Executive Director
Anago (Non) Residential Resources Inc.
Picture yourself
at home, in your bedroom. You see a warm
soft bed, a colorful room, a place to relax and unwind; your sanctuary. You have grown accustomed to hearing your
family moving, talking and laughing in the rooms around you, their presence is
comforting and calming.
THIS is your reality.
Now imagine
what it would be like to step into your bedroom, knowing it is a place filled with
memories of neglect or sexual abuse evoking memories of constant fear and pain.
Unable to maintain your personal safety because of your age and size, you have
learned well that adults cannot be trusted to care for and protect you. You are
convinced it happens only to your because you are worthless … people don’t
damage what they care about. Consider yourself this young girl who walks into
her room and finds no area within it safe.
Instead, find yourself hiding in the deepest, darkest part of your
closet, or curled up under the bed, frantically hoping you will be safe. Your senses are always heightened, constantly
on your guard; you listen for raised voices, strange voices, shuffling foot steps, breathing that is not your own. There is no gentle drifting off to sweet
slumber for you. When total exhaustion takes over you lapse into a state of
restless unconsciousness. Jolted awake by the slightest noise, you complete
your ritual scan, run through the mental check list – where is everyone, are
you alone, are you safe, will you ever be safe… THIS is HER reality.
At the
Anago-Parkhill Therapeutic Care Residence the young people arrive with
absolutely no expectations. In fact, the majority of girls who enter into our
care have reached the lowest point in their lives; that fear and uncertainty embedded
in every fiber of their being. Anago’s goal
is to provide these young girls, with the most complicated needs, with a
bedroom that they can call their sanctuary; a safe place … free of fear. Anago wants to provide them with the means to
make this room their own haven.
Items that
we provide for ourselves to make our homes personal, warm and safe are foreign
concepts to our girls. Slippers and
pajamas that fit and are clean, toiletries, items for comfort kits, towels,
unused bedspreads and comforter sets, pillows, curtains, paint and decor are
all items that none of us would think twice about providing in our homes, as
they are basic, fundamental necessities. Anago would like to provide the girls
in our care with these items (tools) and more importantly, empower our girls by
giving them the freedom to choose. The
opportunity (ability) to choose what color they would like to paint their room
or to choose what type of comforter set they would enjoy sleeping in.
Please help
us offer these girls a chance to make their bedrooms a safe place … free
of fear. Will you help in
ensuring they have A Safe Night, a
Good Night?
To Volunteer May 1, 2, or 3 - OR - make a financial donation call 519-473-1099 ext. 114 or email funddevelopment@anago.on.ca
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