YWCA announces $60M project to support women and families fleeing domestic violence
A new $60 million YWCA Centre for Women and Families was announced in Regina on Tuesday.
The project is meant to support women and families fleeing domestic violence by providing them access to services, including 68 transitional housing units, 40 shelter beds, drop in services, and pre-crisis support.
Members of government, the City of Regina, donors and community partners joined the YWCA to announce the $60 million project, which will be located in Regina’s Cathedral neighbourhood.
The federal government is contributing about $33.9 million towards the project, the provincial government is providing $1 million, and the City of Regina has provided land valued at $2 million. The YWCA, through their Community Capital Campaign, brought $13 million to the project and the organization hopes to raise another $7 million during construction.
“The Centre for Women and Families has been, since day one, a project built from love, community, perseverance, and the belief that together, we can foster equity and healing. To see this hard work come into fruition today as we break ground is truly an incredible feeling,” said YWCA CEO, Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen, “This wrap-around hub of support is the first-of-its-kind in Canada, and the services we will be able to provide in this space will be truly transformative for our community’s women and families.”
The building, which will be 85,000 square feet, will feature community multi-purposes spaces, access to drop in supports, communal kitchens and play areas. It will also include a healing and ceremony lodge.
The new facility will replace a six storey high rise built downtown in the 1960s. It was designed as a residence for young working women who were new to the city and offered programming like swimming lessons. The YWCA serves different needs today that call for a redesigned facility.
Construction will take two years with the new centre ready to serve the community in the fall of 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.