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Three years ago, in his own home, Silverman opened the Men’s Alternative Safe House (MASH), which until last week held the distinction of being the only privately funded shelter for male victims of domestic abuse in Canada. Now, with no public funds to help, the maintenance and grocery bills associated with running his shelter have become too onerous for him to handle. Silverman has sold his home.



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Mr. Silverman closed his shelter last month, saying he could no longer afford its upkeep. He long sought funding from provincial and federal governments to help run his hybrid shelter and home, but believed he was always refused because the space was dedicated to helping male victims and their children. He said he was unable to pay for heat and grocery bills.

Steven Howitt purchased Mr. Silverman’s house and said he helped the advocate move his belongings on Thursday.

“I couldn’t have predicted this. I got the sense that he was pretty frustrated that the shelter didn’t work out. He was frustrated with the government that he didn’t get any help,” Mr. Howitt said on Saturday.

Mr. Silverman told the house’s new tenant that he had plans to stay with friends in other parts of the country.

Mr. Howitt came back to the house the next day and found only Mr. Silverman’s roommate.

“We got talking about keys and he said, ‘I think this is the garage, and this is the front door and what not,” Mr. Howitt said. “I said I would go try the garage but the door was already open. That’s when I found him there.”