Women's Shelter Project
The facts speak for themselves...
In York Region: More than 10,000 single women were living in poverty in 2006. Single women are more than three times as likely to live in poverty than other residents. The number of female clients using services for the homeless continues to increase annually. More than 500 women are turned away every year from shelters serving abused women and families. Not one shelter exists to serve single women without homes.
The York Region Community Plan to Address Homelessness sets a shelter for single women as a priority.
In the wake of an eye-opening study commissioned by the York Region Alliance to End Homelessness that highlighted the urgent need for a shelter and support for homeless women, Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen and former Newmarket-Aurora MP Belinda Stronach joined forces to make a difference.
A Community Team was established in June 2009 through the leadership of Mayor Van Bynen and Ms Stronach and began working to make this much needed project a reality.
York Region Council approved a homeless women's shelter development as a priority in January 2010.
On learning of the critical need for a shelter, the Society of Friends (Quakers) generously donated property, where surveys and studies are under way to determine its suitability as a site for the future women's shelter.
If the site is found suitable, the building permit is expected to be issued in the spring of 2011, with a forecasted completion for the project of 2012.
The Community Team is committed to creating awareness of the need for the shelter and engaging the community at large in raising $1 million toward the current estimated capital cost of $5 million.
Fundraising is well under way with many activities and events raising awareness and funds for the Belinda's Place Shelter project.
