in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, F eb ru ar y 3, 20 22 | 8 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 70 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca insidehalton@metroland.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeav @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Jason Pehora Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Director of Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Directors of Advertising Cindi Campbell and Graeme MacIntosh CONTACT US Oakville Beaver 901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 905-845-3824 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Advertising: 289-293-0620 Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail kmossman@metroland.com or call 905-631-6095. Letters to the editor Send letters to insidehalton@metroland.com. All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at insidehalton.com OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM There continues to be a silent public health crisis across Canada. Anxiety, fear and frus- tration are at all-time highs related to the CO- VID-19 pandemic, and much of our day-to-day life continues to be drastically different than it was prior to 2020. For an untold number of women and children in our community, homes remain a place of harm rather than healing and respite. Whether there is an ex- perience of physical vio- lence or patterns of power and control that can be challenging to recognize, we know that this in- creased stress has translat- ed into decreased safety for many in Halton. In fact, one statistic that still stands out is that the Halton Regional Police Ser- vice has responded to an average of 10 calls per day regarding domestic vio- lence this past year. The Halton Women's Place (HWP) shelters were frequently at or above ca- pacity. The systems that are in place to protect wom- en during these times are overwhelmed. In fact, at HWP, we have made the very difficult de- cision to cancel our Home Safe Home Gala to ensure that all of our resources are directed toward women fleeing violence, as the pandemic continues to rage on around us. Our wish for 2022 is that you in the community will come alongside to do this work with us to create Home Safe Halton. To effect change for women across Halton im- pacted by violence, we need the community to rec- ognize the beginning stag- es of violence. Commit this year to take a workshop and gain tools and knowledge about how you can help someone you care about if you sus- pect they are experiencing domestic violence. We will be expanding our public education offer- ings throughout the year to inform you about these top- ics and work in partner- ship with all of you to stop violence before it starts. Halton Women's Place is the only women's shelter in the region, providing emergency safe shelter and community outreach ser- vices to women and chil- dren experiencing domes- tic violence and abuse. If you need support, call our 24-7 crisis, interven- tion and support lines at 905-332-7892 or 905-878-8555 or reach out through our online chat tool at halton- womensplace.com/chat. Domestic violence af- fects us all. If you or anyone you know needs help, please reach out. You are not alone. Laurie Hepburn is the executive director at Hal- ton Women's Place. She can be reached at Lhep- burn@haltonwomen- splace.com. AS THE PANDEMIC RAGES ON, SO DOES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WOMEN'S SHELTERS SEEING RISE IN DEMAND, WRITES LAURIE HEPBURN In my opinion, one of the main causes of mental health issues is financial. For many, financial strength, or weakness, im- pacts most of our life. When your financial sta- bility declines or you per- ceive that it will, this can have a ricochet effect on oth- er aspects of your life. Will you be able to pay for ongoing living costs? Can you financially care for your children? And will you be able to afford other financial obligations? There are a lot of things that can keep you awake at night. Finance is one. Difficulty with your fi- nances can lead to awkward conversations with your spouse, including major ar- guments. Stress can lead to other medical problems. Mental health issues can affect your ability to do your job and earn an in- come. This could be magni- fied by the worry that you could lose your job. Professionals that assist clients will have a number of solutions that hopefully will offer assistance. From a financial per- spective, identify any fi- nancial causes of stress, anxiety and mental health problems and address those issues. A starting point is to un- derstand your finances. This could include doing a yearly budget. A budget is not just some impersonal process done on an Excel spreadsheet. It al- lows you to understand how much money is coming in every month and how much is being spent. A clearer understand- ing of this can be a great help in providing a better financial foundation. This process will help you better manage your fi- nances and hopefully less- en any financial stress that this may cause. Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly financial plan- ning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through www.watsonin- vestments.com. FINANCIAL WORRIES CAN CAUSE MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS FINANCIAL STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS IMPACTS OUR LIVES, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column LAURIE HEPBURN Column