Help our friend flee family violence

Hi!

We’re Layla, from the UK, and Julianne, from Canada (that's me on the right in the cover photo). We’ve started this fundraiser for our dear friend, Themba (on the left in the cover photo), who lives in Canada and has been experiencing long-term homelessness due to multiple disabilities, multiple consecutive abusive living situations, and fleeing family violence.

Because Themba’s family violence situation is ongoing and has recently escalated, we’re doing our best to protect Themba’s identity and whereabouts. We’re only sharing photos of Themba where she’s masked, and any references to geographical locations in this campaign will consist only of general descriptions. Thank you for understanding and sensitivity.

Themba is currently residing in a safe house for victims of domestic violence. Whilst we are all grateful that this resource exists, due to government underfunding the safe house can only accommodate Themba for 4 weeks.

Themba has extended family in Europe who love her and are desperate to help her. They would like to get Themba out of Canada, away from her abusive family, and bring Themba to be with them so that she can finally rest, recover, and rebuild her life in a safe and supportive environment. However, Themba’s loving family do not have the financial means to do this on their own.

We, Layla and Julianne, with Themba’s consent and the consent of her loving family in Europe, have organised this fundraiser to make it possible for Themba to permanently leave Canada, be with her loving family, and finally end this nightmare.

This campaign would help to cover the following:

Themba and her family will need financial support for basic living expenses until Themba can secure a long-term immigration status via residence and/or work permit

We are very grateful for any amount that you are able to contribute to help us reach our goal!

Please donate and also share this with your networks, with mindfulness to protect Themba's identity and location details (ie. no tags or full names please). We believe in the power of community support to keep each other safe, and it means the world to us for you to play a part any way that you can. All funds raised will go directly to Themba.

(Pictured: Themba, Layla, and Julianne on a video call)

Background:

In 2020, Themba sustained a nerve injury, which left the right side of her body immobilised for 4 months. With the help of her doctor, nerve specialists, and a great physiotherapist, Themba has thankfully been able to get the medical care that she needs, however she also now has a permanent disability and lives with chronic pain.

Themba is also autistic and has a chronic illness, which causes sporadic blindness. These conditions have severely limited her ability to work, causing her to have an unstable income.

After being evicted by multiple unethical landlords, Themba became homeless and went to stay with someone she trusted was a safe friend. This environment quickly devolved into an emotionally and psychologically unsafe place for Themba to stay. She was forced to leave with nowhere else to go. Julianne was able to help her with staying at a hostel whilst they coordinated a new housing plan.

In January of 2023, Themba returned to her hometown to live with a friend’s relatives who kindly offered to take her in. This at first seemed like a safe place for Themba to land, however this arrangement too became unsafe. After being regularly threatened with violence and even physically attacked, Themba was forced to leave. She stayed short-term on several friends’ couches, but this was not a sustainable situation.

The stress of yet another abusive living situation and consequent housing instability has deteriorated Themba’s health. This has caused her to have more frequent chronic pain flare-ups, and has severely regressed her physical recovery, further exacerbating her inability to get out of this situation on her own.

Themba grew up in an abusive household and has been estranged from her mother and mother’s side of the family since 2015. Recently, however, desperate for help Themba contacted her mother.

Themba’s mother and step-father initially seemed very eager to help and rebuild their relationship with Themba. They offered her a place to stay to recover and get back on her feet. However, within 48 hours of arriving at her mother’s house, this relationship devolved into the same abuse that Themba had grown up with. As this situation continued to escalate, Themba contacted us, her closest friends, for help.

With our help she arranged an escape to the nearest domestic violence safe house.

At this safe house, Themba experienced repeated racial and ableist microaggressions from staff. When Themba asked to speak with management to address her needs she was instead accused of being difficult and kicked out with no place to go, and told to leave within 10 minutes. Themba was forced to stay with a member of her mother’s extended family for several days, which was also not a safe or sustainable environment for her to stay long-term.

We are extremely grateful to report that on the morning of Monday, 10th June Themba located another safe house with available rooms. Staff brought her safely to their premises and, since this time, Themba's told us that staff have been immensely helpful in supporting her. She is now resting and working on a plan to move forward with her life.

Themba would very much like to reunite with her family overseas, and we would like to see our friend finally in a safe and stable environment, where she knows she is loved. Her loving family understands how distressing this situation is for her and they are keen to provide her with a safe place to recover, receive the mental health and medical care she needs, and they would like for her to have the chance to rebuild her life.

None of this is possible without your help. Once again, we appreciate any and all donations to help us reach our goal. We thank you for your support and will keep all donors updated regarding Themba’s well-being until she is safely with her relatives overseas. Thank you!