Northern Ont. women’s shelter wants to open transitional housing facility

A women’s shelter in Temiskaming Shores is looking at building and operating a new transitional house for clients, a project officials call ‘crucial.’

As demand for its services soars, a women’s shelter in Temiskaming Shores wants to build and operate an expanded transitional house for clients.

For more than 40 years, Pavilion Women’s Centre has supported women and children experiencing violence through its emergency shelter and wraparound services.

But now, the women’s shelter is at a critical point.

“Last year alone, we had to turn away 29 women and children just because we didn’t have the space and that is so tragic,” said Chantal Charbonneau, president of the centre’s board of directors.

In response, the centre is planning to build a new facility to house the shelter and add 10 transitional housing units.

Charbonneau said the idea has been in the works for a couple of years. She said it’s a crucial project due to a shortage of affordable housing in the area.

In addition, the current emergency shelter is aging and too small. It has just 11 beds to support women and children when they’re in crisis.

“After that crisis point, they need stability and time to get back on their feet,” Charbonneau said.

“Right now … housing in our district is incredibly hard to find.”

She said that, in the last two years, only about 20 per cent of women who left the shelter found adequate housing in the community. Some have gone back to their abuser as a result.

The women’s centre is in talks with the City of Temiskaming Shores to acquire a vacant lot on Meridian Avenue to build the new facility.

The project was brought up at a recent city council meeting.

Some residents said that city council should sell the land for the highest possible price. Others were worried about the location, including losing view of the nearby lake, whether nearby property values would go down and whether an adjacent medical centre would still be able to expand.

“We are jammed for space in the medical clinic,” said Dr. Hillary Lawson, speaking on behalf of the Haileybury Family Health Team.

Idea went to city council

“Our hope would be that the project moves forward, but with that consideration in mind.”

Council is now considering the application and is expected to receive an administrative report from city staff on the plan at a future meeting.

“When I look at whether you sell the property and you receive monetary valuation for it, or whether you donate it and receive the services that are being provided to the community that are needed and have been needed for a long time, then you can’t underestimate the impact that that has on the residents in our community,” Mayor Jeff Laferriere said.

Charbonneau said she is feeling “hopeful” and she believes the Pavilion Women’s Centre has done its “due diligence” to find the best possible location.

She said the women’s centre is willing to sit down and work with staff from the medical clinic to ensure there is enough room.

“We are the only place in our whole district that takes in women that are escaping abuse,” Charbonneau said.