We, Amanda’s family, friends, and community are asking for your urgent generosity and help.
For the past ten years, Amanda has been in survival mode desperately seeking safety and stability.
The first four were spent enduring and finally escaping a violent relationship.
Then the next six years relentlessly navigating its aftermath and long term impacts:
Filing charges and a criminal court conviction.
News Article: BC relationship coach may escape criminal charges
Family court.
News Article: abuse victim testify in family court cheered
*Forced bankruptcy due to her life savings being spent on medical, mental health and legal fees.
*Forced poverty.
News Article: KW woman shares challenges of disability benefits
*Unstable housing, (she has had to move 16 times in 6 years)
and much much more.
Shortly after leaving her abuser she was diagnosed with Complex Ptsd and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury / Post Concussion Syndrome. As a result of the violence, Amanda is now a person with disabilities that drastically decrease her daily capacity to work and take care of herself.
Through it all though, she pushed forward. She founded, and as best she could, ran a grassroots charity to support other survivors like herself, attempting to rebuild her life while helping others do the same.
News Article: KW survivor supporting survivors through thrifting
Sadly, 10 years spent just trying to survive has caught up with her.
Amanda has hit a wall.
Her body and medical team have declared that she is in full survivor/survival burnout and can no longer function well enough to work or take care of herself. She’s been forced to take a medical leave of absence from the very organization she created in an attempt to get back on her feet.
For the first time since leaving her abuser, she has a chance to step away—not to give up, but to finally rest, recover, and receive the trauma treatment and downtime she’s been needing for over a decade.
She’s been medically referred to one of Canada’s only women-only, trauma-specific inpatient treatment programs at Homewood Health Centre. The treatment itself is covered by OHIP—but room, board, and meals are not.
This fundraiser is to cover the full cost of her stay.
MORE ABOUT AMANDA’S JOURNEY
Amanda left a violent four-year relationship —but like so many survivors, she quickly learned that leaving is only the beginning.
In 2022 she founded the Domestic Violence Victims Alliance (DVVA) to fill a gap in survivor support. She created Retail Therapy KW, a trauma-informed thrift store where survivors can shop for free when they’re starting over. (DVVA ). She personally receives, sorts, and prices donations—even on days when her symptoms make it hard to stand or focus.
She’s been public and unapologetic about her story—“healing out loud” in ways that make others feel less alone and to help end the stigma around being a survivor and needing help.
She’s spoken out in courtrooms, in media interviews, and on community stages.
She’s advocated for legal system reform, including setting a precedent in B.C. family court so survivors can now testify behind a screen for safety.
She was even nominated for KW Oktoberfest’s Women of the Year this year in the community service category.
“Amanda’s ‘heal out loud’ approach to life has not only touched our local community, but those across Canada. Her dedication to women’s rights, sovereignty, health, and safety is unwavering. When she sees a need in the community, she fights like hell to meet it.” — From her Woman of the Year nomination.
Amanda has fought—relentlessly—for herself and for others.
But the tables have turned and now SHE needs OUR help. She needs us to fight for her.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM – HOMEWOOD
Amanda has been accepted into the Women’s Trauma & Concurrent Program at Homewood Health Centre—one of the first programs in Canada to offer women-only, trauma-informed, inpatient treatment for complex trauma and co-occurring disorders.
It offers:
Nine-week intensive inpatient program addressing traumatic stress injuries, including PTSD, alongside substance use disorder treatment as required.
Gender-specific environment fostering safety and connection among female co-patients.
Specialized treatment led by an experienced clinical team of all genders, including assessment, stabilization, skills development, trauma processing, and discharge planning.
Weekly 1:1 physician sessions and regular 1:1 sessions with a therapist (approximately twice/week) for Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Group programming featuring dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT)
Holistic care approach addressing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of healing.
WHAT WE’RE RAISING
Private Room | $33,075
Semi‑Private Room | $26,775
We are aiming for the full amount of $33,075 so Amanda can stay in a private room, giving her the privacy and calm she needs to truly rest and heal. Her brain injury makes sleep very difficult and a private room would help ensure she gets the quality sleep she needs.
But even if the private room isn’t fully funded, a semi-private room would still allow her to access the program.
Every dollar helps close that gap.
Every share brings her closer to safety.
WHAT YOUR SUPPORT MEANS
– A safe, private space to rest and recover
– Access to one of Canada’s most respected trauma recovery programs
– A chance for a caregiver and advocate to finally receive care herself
– A powerful reminder: survivors deserve more than survival—they deserve healing
HOW YOU CAN HELP
**DONATE**
Every dollar brings Amanda closer to healing
**SHARE**
Post this campaign on social media, in your networks, and through email
**TAG THE MEDIA**
Help amplify Amanda’s story
**FOLLOW AND SUPPORT HER WORK**
FINAL WORDS
In some ways Amanda’s healing journey has just begun, with this burnout, with this campaign, with your support.
Amanda has done everything humanly possible to try to create healing, safety and stability in her life since leaving her abuser.
She has built her new life around care—for fellow survivors, for people with disabilities, an for herself.
She’s been the hand reaching out. The one who says: “You are not alone, you will get through this, you matter and life will get better.”
Let’s send that message back to her now.
Let’s be her community.
Let’s hold her up and carry her into healing.
Let’s give her the time, rest and space to heal.
Will you help us get Amanda to Homewood?
Thank you n advance for whatever you can do to help.
With Love,
Amanda’s Friends and Family
