Brampton women's shelter on brink of closure without urgent funding, says director
Women & Children Precious Shelter says it's been at capacity since it opened
Tamara Whilby says the idea to open Women & Children Precious Shelter came from experiences she had working as a nurse.
"We were able to see a lot of situations where women were being abused within the city of Brampton and trying to flee," she recalled.
One particular incident comes to mind, when she didn't know how to help a woman who was abused, beyond giving her medical attention.
"It led me to envision a place where we could help."
Whilby is now the director of Women & Children Precious Shelter — meant to be a haven for women and children in the Peel Region area who have survived abusive situations. According to the organization's website, its vision is to "be a source for healing and restoration as we tackle abuse within our community, one woman at a time."
The location doesn't just provide shelter, but also resources to help families regain complete independence. But now, after less than a year of having its doors open, staff worry it won't be able to help the community much longer.
Whilby says since the shelter opened in July 2022 they've been consistently at capacity, and currently have a wait list of about 30 women. Even before they opened a physical location, Whilby says the team, which consists of other women who have experience in the medical field, were taking hundreds of virtual calls to help direct women to resources.
Hoping for funding from province
"Our biggest challenge is having operational funding to sustain our shelter to remain open," Whilby said.
"Right now we are struggling."
Whilby says they've received grants through Peel Region and donations through the community and corporations, but they're not enough to keep the facility running. She says they expect to hear back on provincial funding within the next month.
"If we don't get something within the month of April, then unfortunately we wont be able to remain open unless some miracle happens," she said.
In a statement, Aileen Baird, director of housing services for the Region of Peel said, "While we are unable to provide any operational funding from our housing budgets, we are working with the shelter to see if we can offer some short-term assistance until they learn if their application for funding from the [province] has been successful."
The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services told CBC Toronto officials have been in touch with the organization and it encourages them to check for grants they might qualify for.
"We are investing over $250 million in community services that aim to prevent violence and support women and their children who are survivors," the statement said.
"We provide a broad range of programs and supports for survivors, their families, and communities, including 24-hour crisis lines, emergency shelters, hospital-based Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Centres and the Victim/Witness Assistance Program."
'Huge need' in Brampton, advocate says
Kripa Sekhar, executive director of the South Asian Women's Centre says there's been a need for more shelter spaces for women fleeing domestic violence in the Greater Toronto Area for a long time.
She said her organization, which supports South Asian women, had a difficult time finding spaces for the dozens of women calling them for help during the pandemic.
"The safety of women was really compromised at that time," she said. "That's when we realized how difficult the situation had become for women who were living in precarious situations of abuse."
Sekhar says there is a "huge need" in Brampton for more spaces, but she also hopes to see more permanent housing solutions in the future.
"I really hope that they get the funding they need. I think there's a huge need in every community and I hope they're able to continue... It would be terrible if you start a shelter and it goes down when the need is so great."
Whilby witnesses how great that need is on a daily basis and hopes the community doesn't lose one of the few safe spaces for women fleeing violence.
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