Kitsilano News, March 3, 1993 MUSICIANS SING OUT FOR SANCTUARY by Tom Zillich
	Vancouver musicians are building the foundation for a new organization that helps battered women keep away from abusive spouses. All sale proceeds of a two-song cassette released this week will fund the Sanctuary Foundation’s goal to provide second-stage transitional housing for battered women. "Women are usually given only two weeks in first-stage housing to set up their lives,” says Katie MacColl, organizer of Songs for Sanctuary. “It’s not enough time. That’s why they go back to abusive husbands – there’s usually nowhere else to go.” The mandate of the year-old Sanctuary Foundation charity is to provide abused wives with shelter for six months, and to assist with social planning. MacColl got the idea for the project while recording an R&B flavoured tune, Back Off, with songwriter Steve Mitchell. The song, about a woman who decides to leave her abuser, set off a spark in MacColl, a music teacher and singer on the local club circuit. “I said, ‘Why don’t we approach a women’s group to have this song as a fundraiser?’” she remembers. “The lyrics seemed so perfect for that purpose. It seemed like the right thing to do with a song like it.” Of course, it would be a major project. “That’s just another way of telling me to go for it,” says MacColl. “I’m a very seize-the-day kind of person.” With a handful of other Vancouver musicians, they approached the Sanctuary Foundation, and the project was off and running. Work then involved corralling a stable of companies to donate studio time and other services to produce the cassette, to be promoted at Lower Mainland shopping malls, including Oakridge from March 19-21. MacColl’s new band, Ernie’s Coffee Shop, will also plug the cause at local venues. “There’s a lot of angry music out there right now,” explains MacColl. “These songs stress non-violence. That’s why I feel so motivated about it. It’s such a positive message.”
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