I have recently started helping North York Women’s Shelter with a project that I think is very exciting and much needed in our community. In 2015, NYWS offered six bedrooms (with 3 bathrooms) and provided a safe shelter to 48 women and 33 children each year. But the demand for space like this is overwhelming. Across Canada, safe spaces like NYWS are forced to turn away 305 women and children every single day.
The shovels are in the ground to build a $12 million centre that will be located in North York, but will serve women and children from all around Toronto, who are experiencing violence. It will be place for healing, with 17 bedrooms (40 beds), each with a private bathroom, fully accessible for people with special needs, and, there will be a place for pets. Often, women don’t leave violent households because they don’t want to leave a loved pet.
The shelter will offer a variety of services and programs, and people from the community will be able to use some of the space as well for meetings and programs. When the doors open next year, we will have a state of the art community building, a template for how future shelters should be built.
Please contact me for more information or go to www.nyws.ca.
