A women’s shelter in Brampton, Ont., is on the brink of closure, and may be forced to shut its doors as early as next month if it does not receive additional funding. This could leave dozens of single mothers and women fleeing intimate partner violence without a place to go.
Tamara Whilby is the director of Women & Children Precious shelter in Brampton, one of just three shelters in the region providing emergency wraparound services for families. Whilby says some of her clients are as young as 16 years old, with children as young as seven months.
“Our goal is that we have something where we’re able to take in more families because we have such a wait-list of women calling every two hours wanting to find somewhere to go,” she told Global News.
The shelter is currently at capacity with 10 families. More than 30 are on a wait-list.
“They feel unsafe with their children and sometimes if they’re in desperate need they will be living in their cars,” Whilby said.
According to Peel police, there were more than 9,200 intimate partner violence calls officers responded to last year alone. In 2021, the region saw three domestic violence homicides.
Const. Tyler Bell says domestic violence calls are of the “utmost priority.”
“That’s our primary concern: preservation of life, as well as familial services that we can offer to help the families. We also have to keep in mind that domestic altercations are the most dangerous thing police officers respond to” he said.
Despite the dire need for community supports for victims, Precious is on the brink of closure. The shelter opened last July and received a grant of $80,000 from Peel Region, in addition to other donations from the community. But according to Whilby, it’s not nearly enough to meet a yearly operational budget of $200,000.
Aileen Baird, director of housing services in Peel, said “operational funding for victims of family violence shelters is the jurisdiction of the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.”
“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 Ministry has been successful,” Baird said.
The shelter will shut down at the end of April if it does not receive provincial funding.
The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services tells Global News “officials have been in contact with the organization and we encourage them to check available funding opportunities for grant programs for which they may qualify.”
Whilby, however, says she has not received a response from officials regarding funding, and with each day that passes, she grows more concerned for the lives that will be at risk.
“We don’t want to (close),” she said.
“We want to be able to remain open so that we can help these ladies and their families.”