Shelter reno adds meal stations, gas fireplace
Two-storey home also has bulletproof windows after $340,000 revamp
If you were being abused by your husband and had escaped your home with your children, raced out into the night with nothing but the clothes on your back, what would you hope to find?
A safe place with caring helpers, cosy bedrooms and companionship for the tough journey ahead?
That is what the organizers at Sandgate women’s shelter hope to provide with their most recent expansion and renovation project in Richmond Hill.
On a quiet residential street, half a block away from a public elementary school, the two-storey home blends in with others in the neighbourhood. But behind the closed doors, lives are changing.
For nearly 10 years, Sandgate’s Richmond Hill shelter has offered 24-hour free and confidential support to help women take steps toward ending abuse in their lives — but increasing demand, especially in the southern end of the region, had the home bursting at the seams.
It closed last July to embark on a $340,000 renovation and reopened this week.
A “sneak peek” open house on Feb. 5 revealed a complete overhaul, including new private work cubicles, a prayer room and five additional bedrooms, one of which is fully accessible.
The garage has been reworked to provide larger front office space, replacing a tiny room that offered little privacy for women arriving off the street.
Sun-drenched windows give the home a bright and airy feel, and those on the main floor facing the street are now bulletproof.
A gas fireplace offers warmth to the family room, while the kitchen provides two different meal stations to allow for halal or kosher food preparation.
There is a dining room, backyard play structure and a large and brightly furnished play room for children in the basement as well as two computer nooks with private phone space, faith room for prayers and a room filled with donated clothing.
Sandgate has discovered a growing need for large family space, says Nilda Patey, interim executive director.
Sandgate provides crisis counselling, transitional housing, legal support and second-stage housing apartments
It’s not uncommon for people to arrive with three to five kids, she says, which is why the large bedrooms upstairs provide bunk beds, cribs and enough space to slip away for family privacy.
Beds are covered with donated quilts, each one unique, stuffed animals that children can keep and purses filled with personal hygiene products.
Patey says some women arrive with nothing but the shirt on their back, having been directed there by social service agencies or domestic violence police; others may be humantrafficking victims suffering from trauma.
Women may arrive from outside York Region or even fleeing abuse from another country.
Sandgate provides crisis counsel- ling, transitional housing and legal support, second-stage housing apartments, community outreach programs and a Let’s Talk program for children who have witnessed violence.
The renovation was completed with funding from the Ministry of Community and Social Services and additional support from the Home Depot Canada Foundation and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.
“The challenge was to meet shelter standards, but also provide a clean, neat place offering dignity and respect,” she says. “Our goal was making this feel like a home, not institutional but warm and inviting.”