Bracebridge and Natalie Novak Fund to commemorate victims of domestic homicide with Barb’s Purple Benches.

On May 15, 2020, family and friends of Natalie Novak will mark the fourteenth year without Nat in our lives. It also marks fourteen years since the Natalie Novak Fund (NNF) started its work to support awareness, education and the prevention of relationship violence.

Last year I spoke at a conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The focus of the conference was the impact of Domestic Violence on its victims, families and communities. Let me share one pivotal experience from that Halifax conference.

The Story:

The afternoon presentation concerned the case of Barbara Baillie. Barbara Baillie was strangled by her husband, in the downstairs of the family home.  

On the evening of Oct 19, 1990, Barbara’s eldest daughter, Denenia, came to her parent’s house to go out with her mother. It was odd for her mother not to be ready. Denenia’s father told her she could find her mother downstairs. And, indeed, that is where Denenia found her mother’s lifeless body.

The Baillie family had five children and a grandchild at the time of Barbara’s death. Four boys, aged 14 to 20 years old, still lived at home with their parents.

On the day of the conference in 2019, three of Barbara Baillie’s five children attended this presentation. We sat together as their tragic story was unfolded to a hushed audience. We listened to how the siblings struggled to survive as individuals and as a family, from that day to this day.

As the presentation closed, the Baillie family’s project was introduced. A simple park bench was installed in their mother’s favourite park. It was painted purple to indicate that Barbara Baillie died as a victim of domestic homicide. A plaque remembers her name, and a local contact number is there for those who need help. I invite you to visit this link about Barb’s Purple Benches for more information about the story and the project.

Our Ask:

NNF’s Barb’s Benches Project is sponsoring three benches in our Muskoka community. The benches will commemorate three local women that lost their lives through domestic homicide. These women were our neighbours, our friends. They were a part of our community, which has been deeply affected by each of these violent murders; loved ones stolen from our lives by senseless acts of violence. It is unthinkable that their memory would not endure among us.  

We have approval from the Town of Bracebridge and the families involved to install three benches this spring. 

Purple Benches approved for spring 2020:

  • Natalie Novak, murdered in Toronto May 15, 2006, age 20.

  • Lindsay Wilson, murdered in Bracebridge April 5, 2013, age 26.

  • Wendy Boland, murdered in Bracebridge May 26, 2017, age 63. 

Each bench is personal but will have a plaque with a unifying message. The NNF is now fundraising for this project. Our goal is $10,000. Please donate here. Choose the Natalie Novak Fund from the dropdown menu.

The Work of Natalie Novak Fund (NNF), Education and Prevention of Relationship Violence, 2007- 2020

Since the inception of the Natalie Novak Fund for the Education and Prevention of Relationship Violence (NNF) in 2006, numerous successful programs have been carried out to increase awareness and knowledge of relationship violence. Since 2007, NNF has delivered fifteen presentations, workshops and conferences every year. Many audience members are students, professionals from the justice and women’s sector, and police officers. 

NNF funded and coordinated the educational video, If Only …  Nat’s Story and the natalienovakfund.com website. Both the website and video have been viewed by thousands and receive solid affirmation. NNF is always vigilant for new campaigns that enhance and develop awareness of relationship violence within our communities.

The Baillie’s story is moving! What if other victims of domestic homicide could have a purple bench that remembered them? What if purple benches were seen everywhere in Canada? What if every time a domestic homicide stole a life, a bench was placed? What would our cities and towns and campuses look like?

On behalf of NNF and its many supporters, I thank you.

Sincerely,

Dawn Novak

When we deny the story, it defines us. When we own the story, we can write a brave new ending. 

- Brene Brown