North York Women's Shelter's community hub to be named after van attack victim Anne Marie D'Amico
The brother of van attack victim Annie Marie D’Amico says his sister would be thrilled to see that her name will be permanently linked to a one-of-a-kind community hub aimed at helping women and children escape violence and get a fresh start.
The Anne Marie D’Amico Foundation has been raising funds for a new community hub for the North York Women’s Shelter and on Tuesday, the shelter is expected to announce that the centre will be named in honour of D’Amico, who was one of 10 people killed during the Yonge Street van attack in April 2018.
“The community hub is unique. I think it is the only one in the country, definitely the only one in the city, and it is essentially a space where women in the community can access resources that they may not be able to access,” D’Amico’s brother Nick told CP24 on Tuesday morning.
“The residents of the North York Women's Shelter will be able to get there as well and use the legal resources, family resources, all sorts of different things to kind of help them rebuild and just kind of start their life anew.”
He said the foundation has set a goal to raise $1 million dollars for the shelter and they have already surpassed the $500,000 mark.
“We decided we wanted to support the North York Women's Shelter shortly after the incident and we heard about what they were doing, they were in the middle of a huge renovation, a big rebuild and we just realized that what they are doing is just so fantastic,” Nick D’Amico said.
"They are just kind of breaking the mould for how shelters are operating. This community hub is really a way to reach more people in the community so we said this is just a perfect way to get involved.”
The shelter will be unveiling the name of the new community hub at an event this evening and Mayor John Tory will be in attendance.
“Having this named after her kind of embodies who she was. I think she would be very thrilled but I think she would also say we have more work to do to continue raising funds and raising awareness for our cause,” D’Amico's brother added.
“Having her name associated with something so beautiful... it really just inspires us to keep going and really just helps us remember the person she was.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.