Two women's shelters close beds over funding shortfall

Closing beds and cutting staff was the last thing Mary Zilney wanted to see happen at Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region.

But with a $1.6 million mortgage from the newly-built Haven House hanging over the agency's head, cuts had to happen.

• New, larger Haven House women's shelter opens in Cambridge
• New Cambridge women's shelter breaks ground despite $3.5 million shortfall
• Men's addiction treatment centre moving to Cambridge

Those cuts include closing 26 beds — 13 each in Haven House and Anselma House, which reduce those facilities from 45 beds to 32 — and letting go two full-time staff members.

"We're looking for some champions to step forward because, this is a critical situation," Ziley, the agency's CEO, told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo Thursday.

"The issue of violence against women and the need for women to seek shelter certainly hasn't decreased in our region. As the population grows, so does the need. As awareness grows, so does the need," she added.

"Now is the time, we really need your help to just put this $1.6 million to rest."

Tough to pay mortgage

In 2011, Anselma House was rebuilt to create a 45-bed shelter in Kitchener. The 45-bed Haven House was rebuilt in 2016 in Cambridge. The total cost of the 32,000-square-foot Haven House project was $9.4 million.

But fundraising for Haven House fell short and when the doors to the new shelter opened last September, the mortgage was $2 million.

Zilney said they've been able to get it down to $1.6 million. But it's tough to pay down the mortgage.

The Ministry of Community and Social Services funds the majority of the agency's operating budget, but the mortgage must be paid with money raised by fundraising.

The agency also needs to raise $500,000 for their operating budget; money raised above and beyond that can be applied to the mortgage.

"If we can get that mortgage paid down, it will afford us the opportunity to increase staffing levels and start opening the beds back up," she said.

'Saving lives is the work we do'

Both women's shelters are currently full and the agency will continue to do everything it can to help women who call in for help, Zilney said.

"We would never, ever turn away a high-risk situation because safety and saving lives is the work we do," she said.

The issue of violence against women and the need for women to seek shelter certainly hasn't decreased in our region.- Mary Zilney, CEO of Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region

They would ask shelters in neighbouring communities to help if necessary, but she said they also consider other options in non-emergency situations.

"It's kind of a juggling to see the risk of a woman and if she can wait, if she can stay with friends perhaps or relatives for a couple of days until a bed frees up."

• $1M gift leads to new Kitchener women's addiction centre

The work done by the agency is crucial for this community, Zilney said. She hopes others think so, too.

"Each of us is touched by domestic violence at some point in our life. Whether it's a neighbour, a colleague, a relative, our daughter, our mother, someone, and so it's important for all of us to turn our minds to that," Zilney said.

"Certainly there's been a number of domestic violence homicides in our region in the last decade, [it's] certainly indicative that this is a real problematic issue and one that is chronic and one that needs to be addressed. Our agency is a pivotal response to the women that need our services."