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Chestermerians spearhead city’s first women’s shelter

“I think a lot of people think it’s an affluent community and we don’t have those issues here, but that’s very wrong,” Young said.

Long-time Chestermere residents have spearheaded the city’s first women’s shelter, accepting calls for support beginning on Sept. 13 and liaising with local authorities and organizations to help protect women and girls impacted by domestic violence.

The Chestermere Women’s Crisis Society was formed via a partnership between Michelle Young and fellow Chestermerian Morgan Matheson, who serve as vice-president and president of the newly formed society, respectively.

The two friends started the Chestermere Women’s Group approximately 10 years ago to help provide women in Chestermere with resources and lasting connections.

Young said the group helped meet women’s social needs, but added women in Chestermere and the surrounding area began voicing their need for support on a deeper level during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were starting to get requests or were made aware of women that were in need and whether it was financial [or otherwise], most of those requests were coming from women that were leaving or had left a domestic abuse situation,” Young said.

“When we started seeing an increase in these requests that were coming into a lady’s social group, it was a shake of [our] universe, and we had to do something.”

She added the increase in requests for support was a “call-to-action" and spurred the group’s members to create a Chestermere-based crisis society.

“There is something to be said for having something on home plate and something where you feel they understand the location and the inner workings of the community,” the vice-president said.

According to Young, while serving on Chestermere City council last term, she became aware of the statistics surrounding domestic abuse and violence in the lakeside community, and added people often mistakenly held the misconception that Chestermere was void of such problems.

“I think a lot of people think it’s an affluent community and we don’t have those issues here, but that’s very wrong,” Young said.

The former councillor noted Chestermere does not have its own victim services unit to support those affected by domestic violence. Strathmore Victim Services is the closest group to help connect those in need with food, clothing, emergency shelter, and court support.

“Morgan and I put our heads together and said, ‘Something needs to be done here,’” she said.

The former politician said she and Matheson began meeting with Strathmore Victim Services and the Chestermere RCMP detachment to inquire what could be done to better support women in the community.

“We also reached out to our inner circle to put together a board in January. We gave it a name, and we started working towards getting ourselves ready to launch, which is how we got here today,” Young said.

Though the Chestermere Women’s Crisis Society is not a victim services unit and cannot provide the services offered by the local RCMP detachment or social workers, Young added the group will serve as a liaison resource to connect those in need with help from such organizations.

Crucially, Young said the society does have access to highly confidential emergency shelter for women in need with various locations across the city.

“[In an emergency], we could place a woman possibly with her children for 24 to 48 hours while things de-escalate and things calm down a little bit,” she said, adding the society can also provide them basic need support such as food, clothing, and transportation.

“We’ve already had some amazing donations come in by way of actual items. We have different sizes of clothes and things for kids, and we’ll be working on building it up while working alongside the food bank as well, because they run some programs that are going to really help us.”

She added the society will also be providing court support to those needing to testify or who are seeking an emergency protection order.

“We don’t speak. We don’t do anything. We’re just there to sit with her and get her through that process,” Young said of the society’s role in assisting victims in court.

“If it is something that is serious enough to not be something we can help with, we have those relationships and the training to mitigate the situation,” she added. “We’re thinking a lot of our help is going to be basic needs and court support.”

Looking ahead to the future, Young said the group will also play a role in community advocacy, seeking out resources and educating people on domestic violence.

“I think you’d be hard pressed to find any person that hasn’t been touched by domestic abuse or hasn’t known someone who has – it is very much a growing problem,” Young said. “I think it’s one that isn’t talked about often enough, because it’s a hard thing to talk about.”

The group will also provide housing support for those leaving emergency shelters, she added.

“We realize that there will be some things that we cannot help with, and that’s why we spent significant time building those relationships with Strathmore Victim Services [and] the RCMP,” she said. “Because when it gets to be more of an escalated violent situation, we have very good connections with the right people.

“On the flip side, if it is something that shouldn’t be in those two offices, they now have the trust and the relationship with us for us to step in for court support and basic needs.”

Young added the long-term goal for the organization would be to have a brick-and-mortar shelter to welcome women to, but as it stands, women are being helped via email at [email protected] and phone support at 403-775-2927.

She said the group is also looking for volunteers and donations, and can be contacted at their website cwcshelps.com

Young is also interested in reaching out to other groups in the Chestermere community, including schools, to spread awareness of the increasing rates of domestic violence.

“I’m hoping to … make sure people realize that domestic abuse isn’t just happening to middle-aged women, married women,” she said.

“It happens all the time to a lot of people and it’s bittersweet and unfortunate we have to have this organization, but we are grateful that we have the capacity to help.”

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