YWCA Durham, located at Simcoe and McGrigor Streets in Oshawa, has been helping women, children and families through domestic abuse for almost eighty years.
YWCA Durham, located at Simcoe and McGrigor Streets in Oshawa, has been helping women, children and families through domestic abuse for almost eighty years.
But the past few years have been among the most challenging.
According to communications and fund development manager, Debra Mattson, the number of women seeking outreach at YWCA Durham during the pandemic dropped.
“At the beginning, everything was locked down. So abusers were in the house, not leaving the house, not working,” said Mattson.
She said it made it difficult for women to have time alone to call the shelter or crisis line.
This is referred to as the ‘shadow pandemic’ with victims of domestic abuse facing the impacts of being home during the pandemic.
“As things opened up, numbers [of calls] went up,” said Mattson.
Since then, the shelter has had to keep strict health and safety protocols, similar to nursing homes.
When their phone rang with women in need of outreach, there was a struggle to take in and socially distance people at the shelter.
“While numbers began to go up again, we were physically lower because we couldn’t fit as many women,” said Mattson. “This is what happened at shelters across Canada,” she said.
YWCA Durham has also had other challenges.
The organization offers a variety of services and programs, such as the emergency crisis shelter, a Community Enrichment Centre where programs are delivered, the Adelaide’s Attic (a women's-only thrift shop), a 24-hour crisis hotline, interim housing, supportive housing, and job and life skill programming.
Mattson said COVID-19 put a halt on the Community Enrichment Centre and Adelaide’s Attic for a period of time.
Meanwhile, as things return to ‘normal’, YWCA Durham says every donation counts – especially to make days like Christmas special for families in need.
Their shelter has 15 government-funded beds and six which rely on fundraising.
“We love when we receive funds from Rotary, because we can spend it on what we really need at the time,” said Mattson.
This can include taking women on trips, such as packing lunches and taking a day trip to Niagara Falls.
“That’s where our founders like Rotary would come in and allow us to do special things for people that don’t get a lot of special things in their lives,” said Mattson.
