Taking Action on Family Violence Grant Program

The Enhanced Family Violence Services project aims to address Child to Parent Violence and Aggression by increasing staff training and Family Support Worker hours. Using evidence-based, trauma-informed tools, the program will improve early screening, reduce wait times and strengthen supports for at-risk families across Medicine Hat and surrounding regions to help break cycles of abuse.

The Family Access Services program ensures safe, structured, trauma-informed parenting time, helping children maintain meaningful connections during family conflict, violence or Child Intervention involvement. Operating in a secure facility, it offers supervised visits, monitored exchanges and virtual visitation for families facing barriers.

Camrose & District FCSS Association will deliver 2 programs. Real Strength, Real Change is a program that engages male-identifying youth and men in Camrose and surrounding rural communities. It promotes emotional regulation, healthy relationships and challenges harmful gender norms through early education, mentorship and group-based support. Changing Ways works to prevent and address family violence by providing education and support to adults, children and youth. The program includes groups for men and women experiencing intimate partner violence, anger management for adults, and resilience-building programs for children and youth. Using evidence-based and evidence-informed approaches, participants learn to manage stress, regulate emotions and build healthy relationships.

The Women of Courage program is a trauma-informed peer training initiative designed to support survivors of family violence in rebuilding their lives through healing, skill-building and leadership. Delivered as a specialized pilot stream within CMHA Calgary’s established School of Peer Support, this project will equip up to 45 survivors with the training, mentorship and practicum experience needed to become certified Peer Support Workers in the mental health sector.

Central Alberta Outreach Society will deliver 2 programs. The Rebuilding of Lives Free From Violence program focuses on long-term stability factors that victims need support with. The program offers a holistic, trauma-informed and culturally informed family approach that includes supporting victims, providing information, support, and referrals for perpetrators and offering comprehensive services that enable children to maintain healthy and safe relationships with both parents. Client-identified goals and individualized plans are leading to stabilization, recovery, healing and independent living.

Building a Unified Response to Violence and Trauma is a cross-sector initiative enhancing community response through coordinated collaborative action, shared knowledge, systemic change and systems coordination.

Community Initiatives Against Family Violence activities include professional development sessions, public education and bystander intervention campaigns (Keep it REAL Ab) to enhance public awareness of prevention strategies and resources. CIAFV will lead collaborative development of service and referral continuum and protocols to strengthen culturally relevant supports, foster sustainable cross-sector collaboration and develop policy recommendations that contribute to systemic change.

The Rural Roots initiative is a rural, trauma and violence informed training program that equips professionals, caregivers and natural supports (coaches, educators, Elders and community leaders) to recognize and respond to boys and men who have experienced family or sexual violence. This initiative responds to a critical gap in rural family violence programming: the lack of support and visibility for male-identified survivors and the absence of training for those in trusted roles who are often the first point of contact. This initiative will serve rural and remote communities across northeastern Alberta and prioritize collaboration with Indigenous partners, school divisions, FCSS agencies and other community-based organizations.

Through Indigenous Youth Mentorship Program (IYMP), trained youth mentors will deliver programming across Alberta that reinforces positive behaviours and builds academic and social skills aligned with wellness and leadership outcomes. By investing in Indigenous youth leadership, IYMP supports positive peer and family dynamics while offering a strengths-based, scalable model of early intervention. IYMP is sustainable, flexible and responsive to the evolving needs of Indigenous youth, helping reduce the risk of future violence and supporting long-term well-being.

FearIsNotLove Society will deliver 2 programs. The Men& Project is a trauma-informed, digital and relational engagement model that supports men who are at risk of using violence or experiencing emotional dysregulation. Rooted in prevention, early intervention and behaviour change, the project offers a continuum of support ranging from interactive digital tools, articles, workbooks, peer-led guidance and direct access to mental health and crisis services through a 24-hour crisis line. Men& is a digital resource hub that engages men earlier in their help seeking journey and provides them with options to meet their unique needs in building relational skills.

FearIsNotLove’s Domestic Violence Family Intervention Project is an innovative initiative which addresses domestic violence with all members of the family system, including the perpetrator of the violence. The program aims to interrupt violence at its source, with Family Intervention Specialists engaging with abusive partners at early stages of their abusive and violent behaviour. Family Intervention Specialists will offer outreach services to the abusive partners of women in the shelter, as well as the partners of clients of their Community Services Counselling Program, but only when this service is requested and consented to by the adult victim.

The purpose of the Culturally Appropriate Family Violence Supports project is to deliver a coordinated continuum of culturally anchored supports across the family violence spectrum, including intimate partner violence, coercive control, intergenerational harm and stalking. Services include trauma-informed counseling, legal education clinics, youth workshops, court-mandated rehabilitation for men, housing navigation and a multilingual helpline response in Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi and Somali.

The Strong Roots rural initiative addresses systemic barriers to support by increasing access to trauma-informed services and fostering safety through collaboration and education. Prioritizing underserved groups, the project builds resilient communities by investing in local, culturally responsive solutions to prevent and respond to family violence.

The McMan Safe Visitation program provides programs and services in Whitecourt, Barrhead and Edson with shared spaces in the communities of Hinton and Westlock. The program provides an opportunity for continued connection between a child and their non-custodial caregivers in a safe, secure, non-threatening and neutral environment. This allows for families to maintain connections and to learn about creating safe spaces and the impacts of violence on children and youth.

The Safe Visitation program provides supervised visitation for families at high risk of family violence between parents or other family members. This service ensures a safe environment for children to maintain relationships with the non-custodial parent. Cases involving domestic violence require a dual approach, ensuring victim safety while holding perpetrators accountable. The program works to engage abusive partners in accountability-focused interventions, while providing resources and support for non-offending parents and children affected by violence.

THRIVE – Supporting Healing and Accountability in Faith Communities project recognizes the influence of faith leaders and institutions in shaping attitudes and behaviours related to gender-based violence (GBV). It seeks to prevent and interrupt family violence by equipping faith communities with tools to create safe, supportive and abuse-free environments. Using psychoeducational workshops, webinars and facilitated discussions, the project will engage diverse and traditionally underserved faith communities to explore the root causes of GBV, challenge harmful gender norms and promote trauma-informed practices.

Ruth’s House Society will deliver 2 programs. Mandela House Brotherhood Connect is a culturally rooted, trauma-informed initiative supporting Black men and boys impacted by gender-based violence. It recognizes systemic racism, historical trauma and social marginalization, providing a safe space to break cycles of violence and reclaim positive identities within families and communities. 

Youth With A Voice (YWAV) is a culturally responsive, youth-centered program addressing family violence in Black and newcomer communities. It provides trauma-informed education, peer leadership and digital storytelling to support youth aged 13 to 19 who have experienced or been exposed to family violence. YWAV is strengthened by partnerships with culturally rooted organizations, mental health providers and faith groups.

Sagesse’s Real Talk provides 1 to 3 hour capacity building workshops in-person and online for the public, community members and agencies that often serve as the first point of contact for individuals experiencing or perpetrating violence. The initiatives are aimed at all Albertans to address domestic abuse, with a focus on underserved and rural areas and is adaptable to diverse cultural and community-driven approaches in preventing and interrupting family violence across the province.

This Indigenous Education Specialist project seeks to increase the staff capacity to provide trauma informed, culturally sensitive programming and connection to Indigenous communities in the prevention of gender-based violence, including sexual trauma in all forms. The project will provide primary prevention education and connection back to the Sendero Centre's other support services, including Police and Court Support, Counselling and Crisis Response.

WiseGuyz is an evidence-informed violence prevention education program with long-term, transformational goals for individuals, school communities and the broader community at large. SACE’s WiseGuyz project is a full-year healthy relationships and life skills education program designed specifically for grade 9 boys. The main objective is to provide an opportunity for youth to unpack harmful masculine stereotypes, build emotional literacy and develop invaluable communication and consent skills.

Ahlan: Not Alone Anymore is an innovative crisis intervention and stabilization program that offers culturally safe, trauma-informed support to Muslim women and gender-diverse individuals (by faith or by heritage) rebuilding their lives after experiencing family violence. This project bridges the gap between emergency services (shelters, hospitals) and long-term healing. Using peer-led trauma navigation circles, emotional regulation sessions, system navigation and culturally grounded supports, Ahlan includes a variety of healing methods including storytelling, art and movement-based care.

SAiF provides Group Interventions for Survivors of Family Violence. The Survivor’s Support Group addresses healthy/unhealthy relationships, family violence impacts, trauma responses, boundaries, consent, coping, self-care, self-compassion, connection and identity redevelopment. This group provides psychoeducation on family violence and space for survivors to relate and connect with each other. This project will expand by increasing weekly sessions and offering the group twice yearly, once for women only and once for all genders. The New Directions Parenting Group supports non-offending caregivers in parenting after family violence.

Peaceful Pathways is a trauma-informed redevelopment of Hub’s Safe Exchange program, intended to support caregivers and children impacted by family violence. This program will provide families of children ages 0 to 18 with a safe space to exchange their children in a supervised, no contact setting to avoid further incidents of family violence from occurring. The program also fosters long-term family healing and stability through child/youth-focused resiliency programs, culturally relevant co-parenting education, referrals, goal setting, safety planning, system navigation support and improved access to services in rural areas.

The Stronger Together: Education, Empowerment, Action project will design and deliver targeted prevention activities for newcomer adults with basic English language proficiency served by NorQuest College and Edmonton-area newcomer language and settlement service providers. Working with an English language instructor, a Family Violence Resource Specialist will develop a prevention program including plain language resources and workshops for newcomers to learn strategies to prevent, interrupt and respond to family violence.

The Today Centre offers Support Services for Victims of Family Violence. Family Violence Specialists offer emotional and practical one-on-one support through in-person, telephone or virtual methods. Family Violence Specialists work with individuals to assess risk for domestic homicide, plan for safety at any stage, identify needs for basic necessities (including health) and provide psycho-social education on family violence and its impact on children. Individuals are supported with warm ‘hand-off’ referrals and advocacy to access medium- and long-term community resources.

Through a Family Support Coordinator, True North responds and intervenes to the issue of domestic violence and dangers of unhealthy relationships. The Family Support Coordinator helps to address the early signs of violence focusing on the creation and development of youth protective factors. The Family Support Coordinator uses targeted prevention and early intervention processes to engage with youth and provide high-quality supports for healthy communication, healthy routines, emotional regulation, creating boundaries and increasing self-esteem.

The Wood Buffalo Family Violence Coordinating Council (FVCC) is a collaborative partnership of agencies that support the region's ability to prevent, recognize and respond to family and sexual violence and bullying, including coordinating how the region's agencies provide intervention and support services. FVCC also manages the region's Safe Tracks Program, a personal monitoring GPS system that provides peace of mind for family violence survivors.

Using a trauma-informed and culturally safe approach, the Safe Visitation project provides supervised in-person and virtual visits for families impacted by domestic and family violence. The project supports safe, developmentally appropriate parent-child connection and models respectful communication and healthy boundaries. It disrupts cycles of violence and builds protective factors that foster resilience, healing and stability.