Report says women’s shelters in Alberta forced to do more with less

According to Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters recently released 2017-18 data report, shelters across the province are being asked to do more to help women and children suffering from abuse, but are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the rising demand for their services due to space and budget constraints.

“We hope this report will prompt action to help better meet the needs of abused women, children and seniors,” says ACWS executive director Jan Reimer.

One key section of the report states:

“The rising demand for services has taken many shelters beyond full capacity. Women using shelter services are facing the highest levels of danger in seven years. Urgent government investment and public support are required to stem the tide.”

That truth is certainly borne out on the ground in Lethbridge, says Jennifer Lepko, CEO of the Lethbridge and District YWCA which runs the Harbour House shelter.

“Typically in a year we see between 550 to 650 or so women and children every year,” says Lepko. “That number remains relatively consistent, but our turn-away numbers are what we are really concerned about. Last year that number was 2,094. When we say turn away we mean we might not have an actual bed for them, but we still provide all the services we can to those individuals. We just don’t have a safe bed for them to go to right at that time.”

“We need approximately $43 per day per day through additional donations to compensate for our costs versus what we are subsidized for,” she adds. “We haven’t had any increased funding from the provincial government in a number of years and our costs keep increasing. We are looking at about $24,000 this year above last year’s budget.”

While more work needs to be done to help stem the tide of abuse in the province, and more money needs to be sent to shelters to help make that happen, Reimer says it is important to keep in mind women’s shelters have been effective in providing exceptional services to those they can help.

“We see the amazing work women’s shelters are doing — they are reaching more women, they are serving more women, they are handling more crisis calls, they are working on prevention — they are certainly more than a roof, and are very actively engaged within the community. It’s also important to paint that picture of how valuable their services are.”

To view the ACWS 2017-18 data release report visit acws.ca.