CTV Southwestern Ontario
The federal government has announced $1.7 million for the new Anselma House facility, a Kitchener women's shelter set to open in March.
Kitchener Centre MP Stephen Woodworth was on hand to make the announcement on behalf of the Ministry of Human Resources and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
He says "The government is also very interested in protecting the vulnerable and our society when they need it most, and this fits that to a T."
The construction has been underway for a year and a half and is nearly complete, but funding had been falling short ahead of the announcement.
The cost of the new 45 bed facility at Ottawa Street and Heritage Drive is approximately $8.5 million. An additional $400,000 is still needed for the project.
The Women's Crisis Service of Waterloo Region had been concerned they would be unable to open the facility, according to executive director Mary Zilney.
Anselma House, which was established in 1978, and Haven House in Cambridge have both been over capacity in recent months, amplifying the need for the new facility.
At Anselma they've been squeezing more than 30 clients into a 20 bed home.
More beds are needed, not just for women and children, but for another growing group suffering from domestic violence, seniors.
Waterloo Regional Police Det. Const. Mike Payne says "We see a growing need with the aging population, with elderly victims of not only domestic violence, spousal, intimate violence, but also violence in regards to the family, familial elder abuse. These elderly people are victims, they need some supports."
Meanwhile there is still the hope that one day the shelter's services won't be needed.
Zilney says "We have to work hard as a community to eradicate violence so that we don't see the women coming forward."
SOURCE: CTV.CA
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