Raheem marks Seven Years Fundraising for Halton Women’s Place

By Laura Steiner, Local Journalism Initiative, The Milton Reporter

Milton resident  Raheem Chaudhry has raised over $7,000 in the last seven years for Halton Women’s Place. He started participating in the “Hope In Every step”- a fundraising walk to raise awareness for domestic violence. This year’s edition was held in November marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The Chaudhry family makes it a habit to give back where they can, whether it’s financially, or through volunteering their time.  As his mom Sadaf Sheikh Chaudhry started looking into the Hope in Every Step Walk, she thought of how great it would be to participate. “How amazing would this be for someone young to support something like this? As we know with something like domestic violence against females we need more allies,” she said.  His classmates encourage him. “They sometimes want to be involved, and help raise money with me,” Raheem also participates in the Coldest Night Of the Year (CNOY) to raise money for Milton Transitional Housing.

 This year was the first time Raheem reminded Sadaf of the walk, asking her help with his social media posts. “That made me really happy, that he actually approached me and said when’s the walk, I’m ready to go.” This year he surpassed his $1,000 goal.  “It feels good that all my friends and family are donating what they can to get my goal. It feels good to get above my goal every year,” he said.  “People should support me because I’m a youth male who’s doing this. Usually there’s a bunch of adult males that do it.” he added.

Raheem has learned a lot from his participation in the Hope in Every Step. “To stop violence against women, and to always treat women the way that you should always treat women. “With respect, and no violence, and hands off,” Sadaf added. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held virtually. The family did the walk near their home with neighbours, and friends.

Halton Women’s Place runs two emergency shelters located in Milton (North Halton) and  Burlington (South). Their  services include two 24-hour emergency support lines at: 905-332-7892 or 905-878-8555, as well as a chat line through their website. For more information on Halton Women’s Place, visit  www.haltonwomensplace.com