Phones donated to women fleeing family violence

Some local clients have already accessed the program.

Carvalho says any access to technology they can have is very important, as it will be their lifeline to connect.

And a lot of times clients arrive at the shelter with only what they have on them.

“And sometimes it’s not the phone, sometimes the phone has been taken away from them by their abuser or they’re using it to monitor their whereabouts so it is a really tricky kind of thing. Sometimes it’s pure cost, phones are expensive,” Carvalho said. “But through the pandemic, a lot of times we have been able to connect with clients through phones or video calls and things like that.”

Over the years, people have donated old cell phones to the women’s shelter, and they’ve also worked with local tech businesses to refurbish old phones for clients.

Carvalho says a need for more technology has really come to light during the pandemic. The shelter also bought tablets for kids to stay connected during online learning.

“We’re realizing that access to technology is really becoming more of a given that we need. We really saw that in the shelter this past year, we’ve had to amp-up our WiFi for the kids being able to work from home and parents being able to work from the shelter.”

She adds people are needing support more than ever. People are hurting and there is a lot of stress out there in the community, people are needing support more than ever

She reminds you to reach out if you need help, rather than staying in unsafe situations.

by Chantal Wagner

Phones donated to women fleeing family violence

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