Lack of affordable housing puts squeeze on women’s shelters

Alberta’s 42 women’s shelters turned away almost 15,000 potential clients during a 12-month period in 2012 and 2013, according to data released this week by The Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters.

“This certainly validates what shelter directors have been telling us from across the province,” said the organization’s executive director, Jan Reimer, on Friday.

Women have been turned away for reasons such as unavailable beds or because other services were considered more appropriate for their needs. The shelters accepted almost 6,000 clients between April 2012 and March 2013.

A lack of affordable housing and poor income assistance in Alberta often contribute to longer shelter stays, Reimer said.

“They end up staying longer to try to find that housing, and in the meantime, because they’re staying longer, there’s not a place for other women coming in.

“That exacerbates turn- away rates in the province.”

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates the current vacancy rate in Edmonton is 1.4 per cent. The organization predicts the average cost for a two-bedroom apartment in the city will hit $1,120 this fall.

The council was unable to collect data on women turned away for the previous two years due to a change in data recording programs, but the organization’s statistics show 9,784 women were turned away from shelters in 2009-10.

The provincial government has increased shelter funding from $15 million in 200405 to $29 million this budget year. There are 630 provincially funded shelter beds.

“We’ve increased funding year over year … but the number of calls to family violence centres and to police still increase,” said Cheryl Tkalcic, a spokesperson for the provincial government’s human services department.

“It’s a bigger issue than shelters alone can deal with; it’s going to take the community and a change in the way we think about violence and our attitudes toward healthy relationships.”

Premier Alison Redford has appointed a new associate minister of family and community safety to look at issues of family violence, bullying and sexual assault, Tkalcic said, as part of efforts to take a more “holistic” look at the issue.

There are two emergency shelters in Edmonton and two “second-stage” shelters, for women with high security needs who want to transition into independent housing.

“In Edmonton and Calgary, there just aren’t enough emergency beds to begin with,” Reimer said.

Women’s shelter staff are also increasingly dealing with complex cases, such as recent immigrants who don’t speak English fluently and need more help to understand social assistance programs, Reimer said.

Most shelters in Alberta are provincially funded, while the six shelters on First Nations reserves are federally funded.