A Windsor shelter for women is overflowing.
The Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and Families has added six overflow mats to their living room space and a small on-site community meeting room, allowing for an increase from 12 to 18 beds for single women.
The centre provides emergency shelter to women and families. Aug. 31 marks the 27th anniversary for the agency, started by five women in response to the need for women-specific services.
It appears there will be more clients to celebrate with then they expected.
“We have 12 beds on-site, and off-site space for families, easily up to a dozen at a time”, says centre executive director, Lady Laforet. “Just because we are full, the calls don’t stop, we’ve had to get creative to meet the demand.”
Kristin Douglas, the centre’s strategic partnership manager, sees the frustration from clients and is quick to point to a planned move that is in the works.
“We need a new building, where families and single women can both be served on-site, and we are working towards having a building purchased this fall and renovations as soon as we can after that.”
In the meantime, she says women lounge on couches, mats on the living room floor, flow out into the yard, and seem grateful to have a women-specific space to lay their head at night.
The increased numbers tax the single-staffing at the shelter, increase food costs, utilities, and affect an already delicate budget, but creating this space for women to get assistance with housing isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity, says Laforet.
“Safety concerns are unique, trauma considerations, mental health and addiction concerns from a lens that recognizes that single women and single parents face higher barriers to longer-term housing success,” she says.
