Water damage forces young moms out of Marillac Place
KITCHENER — It has been a difficult couple of weeks for Marillac Place, a residential livein support centre for expecting and new moms.
On Oct. 27, a broken toilet on the top floor caused water damage throughout the threestorey residence on Young Street near Weber Street West in Kitchener.
“We have three levels that have minor to significant damage,” said Karen Gilmet, residential director at Marillac.
The ceilings and walls in the kitchen and dining room were worst hit, forcing the seven women and four babies staying at Marillac to leave.
“Within that day, Monica Place (had) stepped up and they had room available to support our women, which we are so grateful for,’ said Gilmet.
Similar to Monica Place in some ways, Marillac Place assists pregnant and parenting youth and young adults by providing a variety of supports including residential programming, counselling and life and parenting skills.
“Whatever kind of barriers may stand in their way, our ultimate goal is to be an advocate for them to help them overcome those barriers,” said Gilmet, who has worked at Marillac since 2000.
The facility also works to help connect women to community supports they may need when they have to leave the centre. Women can stay at Marillac for up to a year. Marillac receives a large portion of its funding from the Region of Waterloo.
Right now, the focus for Gilmet is on attending to the needs of the moms and their babies and trying to hurry along the repair process.
While the women forced out by the flood are able to stay together, it has been challenging being away from their home. Many of them were also forced to leave some of their belongings behind.
“It can be difficult,” she said. “They want to be back home.”
Cost of damage has yet to be determined, but the facility does have insurance. At this point, Marillac staff are waiting to see what will be covered. As for a move-in date — that’s unknown. “I’m just praying for the end of this month” said Gilmet. “The girls want to be home for Christmas.”
To help Marillac Place, the Knights of Columbus are hosting their trivia night on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Kitchener. Tickets are still available.