07/25/2014
Womencare Shelter first opened it’s doors May 22nd 1979 and has since then served over 32,000 clients. When the shelter first opened within 24 hours 2 of our 3 beds were filled. Shelters started to change and we ebbed and flowed with the times. Traversing the waters of change and coming to the space Womencare has today which was built in 2000. It was with great sadness that on Friday July 18th, 2014 Womencare came to a halt as an identity and was brought under management by DVSAS (Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Services). What the community needs to know is that there is still shelter for those in need, just new staff and new leadership.
In the last few years staff and shelter have been through their own trauma of losing leadership, gaining new leadership and finally coming to a partnership with the YWCA. The thing is that advocates never ceased to do the important work, we came together and bonded through the hard times and pushed through. All the advocates are thankful to the community partners and fellow former advocates that have worked so hard on this beautiful shelter. As an advocate of 7 years I have changed and grown as a person and I am ever so grateful that I have had so much guidance and support from those who have loved this house as much as I have.
All of us are thankful for the ties and bonds that we have made with the community members and organizations, small businesses and groups who have supported and given to those that have entered our shelter with little more than a bag of clothes. I personally want to give thanks and pay homage to the women and men who have paved the road for this shelter to maintain for the last 35 years and let you know, you did amazing work. Womencare was more than a shelter, it was a beacon of hope in a time when little else existed for women and children needing a safe place to sleep and breathe. It was a place to escape to, a place of comfort and served its mission. Womencare was and always will be a place in the hearts of those who have worked, volunteered, and put forth the energy to help others. It is and always will be where many women made friends, found themselves, realized that their lives were important and this includes staff.
So to you, the lovely people who have embraced us and helped us, we say THANK YOU! It has been a beautiful journey and heart breaking end to what started out as a dream and ended up being a place to call home.
Katie Chandler