Government support provides crisis shelter with greater services

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Amid a sputtering economy that left supplies low and demand on the rise among Alberta crisis shelters, an announcement by the NDP government a month ago to disperse $15 million to the organizations is raising enthusiasm in Strathmore to implement greater services where extreme demand resulted in hundreds of families being turned away last year.
The Alberta government’s campaign promise follow-through is a welcomed proclamation by the province, as money distributed is designated to operational increases and staffing positions.
For the Wheatland Crisis Society, also known as Strathmore’s shelter, a seven per cent increase in operational costs, funding for a full-time child trauma counsellor and two-and-a-half new outreach workers, will allow the service to provide better services for the trauma-informed agency.
“We want to really specify and focus on children and what those trauma experiences have been like and how they can move forward and start to look at how that impacted their ability to learn, their social skills, and success in school,” said Wanda McGinnis, CEO of the Wheatland Crisis Society.
“One of the moves shelters and the community at large are making, is looking at domestic violence in a trauma-informed way, recognizing that many of our families, in particular children come to us with lifetime of traumatic experiences. So we want to bring a counsellor on board that can really address that.”
The seven per cent increase will provide the possibility for an increase in counselling services, greater staff training opportunities, and assist workers in providing more in-person presence. With more outreach presence in the communities, McGinnis expects it will help address issues in surrounding communities that often face isolation.
While Alberta crisis shelters let out a sigh of relief over the funding increases, the timing was relevant, as the 25-bed Wheatland Crisis shelter had been sitting at capacity. For the 2014-2015 budget year, the shelter accommodated 171 adults and 154 children. In contrast, the shelter was unable to provide accommodations and services to 363 adults and 403 children – all of whom were offered participation in a risk assessment, safety planning, and were then provided with resources. Often the shelter also advocated for the individuals to ensure those turned away had a safe secure place to go.
“While the economy makes us busier, it also makes things more difficult for women and men trying to make the decision to leave quite simply because everyone is trying to tap into the same low income services in the community when the economy gets harder,” said McGinnis. “Sadly sheltering is a recession-proof industry. The worse the economy is, the more need for domestic violence response. This government has pledged a commitment to domestic violence and women’s shelters early on even in their campaign platform. So certainly we were hopeful that that was actually going to come to fruition.”
The Wheatland Crisis Shelter, a facility not gender-specific when dealing with domestic abuse, has noticed longer than average stays among their clients. Stays currently extend to 17 days, above the provincial average of 14 days. Compared to 10 years ago, the average stay was sitting at 13, while provincially people remained in the facilities for 10 days. According to McGinnis, many clients are exceeding the 21-day contract, and even have one client that has already stayed for three months due to a lack of accessibility to affordable housing.
Included in the $15 million financial injection are 84 new outreach support workers, and 40 child and youth counsellors.
“Today’s announcement is evidence that the government of Alberta is taking a holistic approach to address violence and abuse against women by ensuring that there are an array of supports available in communities throughout the province,” said Jan Reimer, Executive Director of the Alberta Council of Women ‘s Shelters (ACWS).
“[It] recognizes that shelter expertise is an essential part of an informed women-centred collaboration approach.”
Not having received automatic year-to-year increases from the government, the 24-staff-member Strathmore-based shelter fundraises a lot of their operational costs. While the government funds $4,000 a year for food, the organization has to raise an additional $12,000 to supplement the food budget for the year – an area where the seven per cent increase will provide assistance.
Although the shelter identified a lack of affordable housing for those using the shelter service, the focus currently is on implementing the proposed services as soon as possible.