New funding of nearly $70,000 to help Squamish women and children escaping violence is a step in the right direction, says Melany Crowston of the Howe Sound Women's Centre.
But, she adds, the province continues to ignore the crucial support provided by women's centres by refusing to re-instate funds that were cut two years ago.
Minister of State for Women's and Senior's Services Wendy McMahon announced in January that women and children will have improved access to 24/7 transition house services thanks to a 33 per cent increase in funding.
Locally that means a $30,000 increase for staffing at Squamish's transition house, Pearl's Place, which will lengthen operating hours but not provide 24-hour staffing, said Crowston. And an annual increase of $35,000 to the Children Who Witness Abuse program in Squamish will fund a fulltime counselling position, said Crowston.
The province will also spend $15,000 on new multicultural services in Squamish, and the Sea to Sky Community Services Society will receive an additional $35,000 for Stopping the Violence counseling for women. A first-time grant of $17,500 will create a new safe home program in Pemberton, and Whistler will receive a total of $105,000 for outreach services, Children Who Witness Abuse counseling and a safe home program.
It's been touch-and-go for the Howe Sound Women's Centre since the B.C. Liberals provincial funding cutbacks announced in 2002 and implemented in 2003. The centre stayed afloat with annual gaming money and grant-in-aid support from the district, but those funds aren't guaranteed.
"We're going to do whatever we can to stay open, our services are needed more and more every day," said Crowston. "Women's centres are the catch-all. We are the first services accessed and sometimes we're the last because there are no other services."
The news of the local funding came to Squamish via West Vancouver-Garibaldi B.C. Liberal candidate Joan McIntyre, who welcomed the news.
"This is a great example of the provincial government's ability to re-invest in social programs now that the measures to turn the economy around are working," she said.
Crowston and McIntyre have discussed the lack of funding and, although McIntyre congratulates the provincial government on the recent funding increase to transition houses, she said that if elected, she will advocate on behalf of the women's centre.
"One of the main reasons I'm running is to make sure that the rewards and benefits of this economic turnaround do flow back into our communities in the corridor," said McIntyre.
