WINNIPEG — Hundreds of women that rely on the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre said they’re concerned after learning the province will be pulling some of the funding the organization relies on to provide all of their services.
The North Point Douglas Women’s Centre is a safe haven for women to turn to in the face of domestic abuse, a place to heal, to find a meal, get some clothes, access a computer and more.
The centre is also a place that many rely on to help them get out of bed each day.
Natalie Dyck is one of those women and she said she’s been using the centre and all of its services for over five years now.
“It got me through a lot of hard times,” Dyck said.
She said she’s used the counselling services to help her through those rough times and she worries she won’t be able to receive the same support she has relied on for so long.
Tara Zajac is the Executive Director of the centre and she said the counsellor, who was free to all, was one of the eight positions that had to be axed as a result of the cut in funds from the government announced Thursday.
READ MORE: ‘Nearly one third’ of Winnipeg women’s centre budget cut by province
Zajac also said she’s dumbfounded by the funding cuts after receiving a letter from the province last year that said the centre would continue to receive funding through the province’s Neighbhorhoods Alive! program until 2019, instead of losing it this year.
The province responded in a statement that said going forward, they’re partnering with The United Way to provide the women’s centre with $257,590 in new funding over the next three years.
However, staff at the centre said those funds were promised before Thursday’s cuts and were allocated elsewhere already.
Natalie and other clients at the women’s centre said they don’t know what they’ll do following the cut backs and changes to the centre.
“If I don’t have the counselling…then I really don’t have anything,” Dyck said.
At a rally on Friday, clients, friends and family packed the lawn outside the women’s centre calling on the government to create ‘communities and not cuts.’
The women’s centre said the funding shortfall means eight positions will be lost.