P.E.I.'s only women's shelter won't reopen
Grandmother's House in Charlottetown needs $80K to run
P.E.I.'s only women's homeless shelter closed in the spring and won't reopen, because of a lack of money.
For eight years, Grandmother's House in Charlottetown was the province's only shelter for women .
Most nights it was full.
But in April, the Native Council of P.E.I. closed the facility because it couldn't find the $80,000 it needed to run the eight-bed facility, with one staff member.
"We looked everywhere. If there was a proposal to be written, we wrote one. And unfortunately, you know, there's a lot of people that compete for money for different projects and we couldn't find that steady source of income," said Jamie Thomas, council chief.
The province didn't receive any requests for money to keep the shelter open, Community Services Minister Valerie Docherty said.
Council to offer other support
"I would like to see any interested group out there, non-profit organization, whatever interested party might be, if they feel there is a need for this, to come to us and partner with us just as we do with the Bedford MacDonald House," Docherty said.
However, in a statement sent to CBC News Friday, the Native Council of P.E.I. said it did meet with Docherty in January, but was told the province was unable to provide funds.
"Any discussion on submitting a proposald was ended," said Thomas.
She added the council would now like to accept the minister's offer to partner on the project.
Meanwhile, The province provided Bedford MacDonald House — Charlottetown's only men's homeless shelter — with close to $50,000.
The Salvation Army plans to reopen the seven-bed facility in two weeks.
Capt. Jamie Locke hopes, with enough money, they can help make a women's shelter a reality some day.
"We know that great things can happen in a short period of time. So we remain open to that conversation and the possibilities of how we might be able to assist in those areas of a shelter," said Locke.
Although the Native Council can't provide shelter, they said they will offer homeless women other support, such as helping them find the food bank or getting a job.