The room is relatively empty, typical of a Saturday afternoon.
The main room of Cornerstone Women’s Shelter, converted from an old bed and breakfast, is crammed with well-used furniture. It serves as a living room, dining room and kitchen.
Light Latin music is pumping from a small boom box on a corner table, controlled by two young women arguing over which track to play.
There’s another woman busy washing dishes in the kitchen area, the clinking of the plates becoming a rhythm that almost complements the melody of the music.
“There’s obviously a wide variety of characters and it makes it fun, in some ways,” says Kim, a resident at the shelter on O’Conner Street. “We try to find our fun here, because sometimes the days can be tough and long. It’s a difficult time.”
The difficulties facing the residents at Cornerstone are just a small sample of the problems among the homeless in Ottawa. It’s a tough time to be on the streets, or even those working and volunteering at shelters across town.
Although the troubles show no signs of going away, or even decreasing, shelters are working to improve their services and trying to serve as many homeless as possible.
Cornerstone runs three homes in the Ottawa area, including one women’s shelter. All are having difficulty keeping up with the demands for beds.
Kim has experienced the difficulty of getting into a shelter. There are few options available when someone is turned away.
“I tried calling the abused women’s shelter but they were always full,” she says. “I even stayed in my car at one point.”
The 52 beds currently available at the women’s shelter are always full, no matter the weather, season or year.
“We are very low on space, so we have to turn away 10-15 women a day,” Garvey says. “There’s about 1,400 homeless women every year and we can only provide shelter for about 500 through the year.”
Kim is a mother of three. She’s an ex-professor and business owner with a psychology degree. She says experiencing the reality of being homeless was staggering.
“It’s one thing to learn it from a textbook, it’s another thing to learn firsthand and deal with it,” she says. “It was a big shock going from the house and cottage life to being in a shelter and not even having a room to yourself.”
Kim came to the shelter when her abusive husband moved back into her house, in order to claim half of it in their divorce.
“We went to court and they said he has no rights to the house, it’s mine,” Kim says. “He has 30 days to put it up for sale, but he hasn’t and he’s disobeying the ruling.”
Kim is considered a transitional resident, who doesn’t have plans for staying at the shelter long-term. However, many of the women who go to the shelter don’t have that option and are supported by the shelter for a month or more.
Yvonne Garvey, Cornerstone’s Resource Development Manager, blames the rising living costs and lack of affordable housing available.
“When you go on welfare, you get $550 every month and $350 is supposed to pay for a room. There are no rooms for $350 a month; the average apartment in Ottawa is $750 a month.”
Supportive housing isn’t an option either. The housing list is currently 9000 people long. This is the equivalent of a nine year wait and even when housing becomes available, the living conditions are poor.
Over 80 per cent of the shelter’s funding comes from the city, but Cornerstone relies on donations for special services and expansion.
The rough economic times haven’t affected the amount of people seeking shelters yet, according to Garvey, but it will probably be reflected in a drop-in funding and donations, especially corporate donations, hindering this development.
In two years, they hope to have more supportive housing for homeless women in their senior years, a rapidly growing demographic.
“If you didn’t plan your retirement then there’s no place to go for you because retirement homes cost a lot of money.”
The main focus at the shelter is helping women get their lives back on track, through finding affordable housing, getting a health card or addictions support.
A new program offered at Cornerstone called iSister aims at giving women the skills to help them meet the expectations of today’s workforce.
“iSister helps women learn how to use a computer,” says Garvey. “It’s important because if you can’t use a computer you won`t make it in the workforce.”
The services available have helped Kim start over. She had just gone job hunting and has two job offers coming up.
“I just want to move past and forget this time, not the children of course, but just start fresh,” she says.
Despite the current difficult times for both Kim and Cornerstone, they’re working to improve themselves and learn from their experiences.
“It’s made me a stronger person and made me realize I am a stronger person,” Kim says. “There are so many women in here who have been through so much and have risen above it instead of falling apart.
“You walk in as one person, but walk out as a different person, one that is much stronger.”