Back-to-school season is here again, which means thousands of kids across Toronto are getting ready to head into new classes, meet new teachers, and make new friends. But for the 13 kids currently living at Nellie’s, back-to-school may also mean starting at a new school, away from their friends and their community. This is because they recently arrived at Nellie’s, and are now registered at our local school for the fall. Moving into the shelter with their mom has meant leaving their home and all that was familiar to them, and now we’re working to prepare them for a smooth transition to a new school.

But Nellie’s wasn’t always intended to provide support to children. When Nellie’s first opened its doors with a 16-bed shelter in 1973, it was initially established for young homeless women dealing with teenage pregnancy, suicide, self-harm, crime, prostitution, ill-health and abuse. Over the years, in response to the overwhelming need, Nellie’s increased its occupancy rate to 36 beds and made the main focus of the organization violence against women and their children.

Then in 2017, thanks to a generous grant from La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso, we launched a children’s program to address the wide range of issues facing children living at the shelter, while also providing them with a safe space to play, explore, and laugh. Two years later, an additional grant allowed us to expand the program to also focus on supporting teens living in our shelter.

We now run multiple programs a week in our multi-room, third-floor space for children and youth of all ages. There is craft-based programming and story time for little ones, a cooking program for school-aged kids, a daily homework club for older kids, and Rock and Water, a world-renowned violence prevention program that instills anti-bullying and empowerment skills in an effort to break the cycle of violence.

These programs, supports, toys and dedicated spaces are important because more children than women come through our shelter doors every year. That’s because when a mom flees violence, more than one child often comes with her. These children didn’t choose to come to Nellie’s, their mothers did. They were torn away from their life, their schools, their friends and their belongings, and thrust into new surroundings.

Now, our job is to support these children in their unique healing process, making them feel safe, cared for, and at home. Ahead of their start at a new school, we work with each child to talk about the move from their old school to a new one, and what they can expect when they get there. Our shelter staff also work directly with school staff to help moms complete the registration forms, transfer transcripts, and create a safety plan. A mother and her child who are fleeing violence need to ensure that the child’s school is not only aware of the situation (and any potential behavioural problems that may arise as a result of the trauma the child has experienced), but also knows how to best protect that child.

We know that starting at a new school can be stressful for kids of any age and in any situation, and we’re thankful to the generous donors who help us continue to support the families who need us.