Government grants will cover new sprinkler system for women’s shelter

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on April 21, 2023.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

New money from the provincial and federal government will go toward installing a sprinkler system and other maintenance in the 30-bed Phoenix Safehouse in Medicine Hat, according the executive director of the women’s shelter.

“It’s a 25-year-old building and in the last year we’ve looked around at what it needs,” said Natasha Carvalho on Wednesday.

“We didn’t have a fire suppression system, which is something that you think about often.”

The $336,300 grant will go toward the project as well as correcting other issues. It was one of the largest of 18 grants, totalling $2.1 million, outlined in a government of Alberta press release Wednesday.

Money from the joint program of Ottawa’s National Housing Strategy and Alberta’s Capital Maintenance and Renewal Program was also awarded to the Safe Haven Women’s Shelter Society in Taber ($45,000), along with shelter operators in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Fort McMurray, Red Deer and Peace River.

The press release provides statements of support from Alberta Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon and Associate Finance Minister Randy Boisonnault, the MP for Edmonton Centre.

In Medicine Hat, money will be put toward some general improvements, but most of the money will be required for the fire sprinkler system.

“It’s a big job to basically retrofit that into an existing building, opening up ceilings to fit it,” said Carvalho.

She said that at present the shelter, which opened in the 1990s as an 11-bed facility, but can now handle three-times that number of clients, does not require a capacity expansion.

The Women’s Shelter Society also operated nine townhomes as secondary transitional housing which can be accessed at times of high demand. The group also has agreements in place with other emergency housing providers in the city, and can place clients with shelters in Brooks and Taber if space is available.

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