With its emergency shelter beds frequently running at 50 per cent over capacity and demand so great that it’s forced to refer some women escaping domestic violence elsewhere, Gillian’s Place in St. Catharines will soon be able to offer a broader range of services to more victims of gender-based violence.

The agency, which provides emergency shelter and a wide range of services such as legal assistance and a crisis support line 24 hours a day for Niagara victims at no cost to them whatsoever, has for the past several years been in the midst of a major fundraising campaign to open more beds and launch a major 8,000-square-foot, three storey addition to the stately former Victoria Public School the agency has inhabited since 2008. 

On Wednesday, the province announced it was providing $3.8 million in funding towards the project, meaning Gillian’s Place has reached its $10 million fundraising goal. Federal funding and major donations by community supporters have also been part of that total.

Graeme Dargavel, director of development and communications for Gillian’s Place, said shelters across Ontario are seeing both high numbers of gender-based violence cases and higher levels of violence in those cases.

More cases and higher levels of violence

“We are seeing really high-risk cases [with] high risk of increased violence or high risk of lethality,” he said.

That’s pushed up demand at Gillian’s Place, which like other shelters has been straining to keep up.

Even though meeting spaces at the facility were converted into makeshift bedrooms, at times Gillian’s Place is forced to refer victims elsewhere, said Dargavel.

“The pressures on our emergency shelter have been unprecedented,” he said. “It’s a heartbreaking reality of our work and for our frontline workers when we are full and we have to turn folks away,” he said.

Gillian’s Place will see its total number of beds increase from 34 to 45. In the first phase of the project, started in 2023 and now completed, space used for legal assistance, outreach and administration was converted into additional bedrooms, more bathrooms, living areas, counselling spaces and a group and life skills programming space.

Phase two, the expansion, will create the new Marotta Family Centre for Violence Prevention and Outreach Support. That will allow for expanded programming for outreach counselling, legal assistance, transitional and after-care support, violence prevention work and administration.

Gillian’s Place will also become pet friendly, meaning women who can’t bear to leave their beloved pet behind will be less likely to remain in an abusive household, said Dargavel.

In announcing the province’s $3.8-million investment, Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, said gender-based violence is a “heinous” crime that must be tackled.

Vital services to victims who can begin healing

“Gillian’s Place…provides vital services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence so they can stay safe, recover and begin their healing journey,” he said.

Charmaine Williams, Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, said investing in community-based service providers to deliver local supports is part of the province’s four-year action plan to prevent and address gender-based violence.

“By providing a safe and caring environment, Gillian’s Place is empowering survivors to rebuild their lives and achieve stability for themselves and their families,” she said. 

Dargavel said Gillian’s Place, which must raise $1.5 million a year to keep its doors open, will need ongoing community support because nine of the 45 beds don’t receive government funding.