Crossroads Shelter at full capacity for 2 years

More crisis calls compared to when shelter opened in 2011

Turning away a woman in need of shelter from domestic abuse is a horrible feeling, but it’s a reality employees face at the YWCA shelter.

“It’s awful for our staff to know that we can’t get one more women in the building that night,” said Lynn Zimmer, executive director of the local YWCA.

Crossroads Shelter has operated at nearly 100 per cent occupancy for the last two years.

It’s officially a 25-bed shelter, but staff can squeeze up to 30 people in a pinch. And they often do.

But as soon as someone moves out, someone else moves in within 24 hours.

“There’s always someone who’s waiting in some kind of dire situation,” Zimmer said.

If there is room, the bed will go to someone who has no alternatives and is in the most danger.

If there isn’t room, staff work to find a spot in a nearby shelter, sometimes providing transportation for them to get there.

YWCA Peterborough Haliburton works with Women’s Resources in Lindsay, Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre in Cobourg and Alderville Women’s Shelter in Alderville. They’re all violence against women shelters, which tend to have the best security, Zimmer said.

The YWCA also works with YES — Shelter for Youth and Families and Cameron House. Cameron House doesn’t take in kids though, and both shelters are more geared to families in a housing crisis — which can often go hand-in-hand with abuse.