Executive director Natasha Carvalho addresses the audience Thursday at the Medicine Hat Women's Shelter Society's AGM.--NEWS PHOTO ANNA SMITH
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society is still going strong, despite continued financial struggles.
The society’s AGM was held Thursday afternoon, in which the board of directors was elected for the next term and audited finances were reviewed.
There were no new directors elected at this AGM, with many returning directors staying on for another term.
The main takeaway, said executive director Natasha Carvalho, is that struggles primarily come from a lack of an operational increase from the government in a decade.
“What we used to pay for things back in 2014 doesn’t stretch as much in 2024, which I think everyone can appreciate, and we’re struggling with that,” said Carvalho. This issue is compounded by the need for an additional shelter to meet community needs.
“If we didn’t have the operational concerns we had, and that money was there, we could rely on this community. This is a very generous community. They come out, they support our gala,” said Carvalho. “But we can’t keep asking both ways. We need some answers from the government, and so that’s really what we’re hoping for is that we can start having some conversations about, you know, getting some support in that way.”
Renovations are underway with no intention of stopping, said Carvalho, they just “need to be able to pay for it.”
She added that the current government has promised some funds to shelters, so they remain hopeful that they will receive assistance in the next round of funding.
“Other than that, we’re continuing like always. We haven’t stopped offering services, even with the renovations, and the shelters are busy. So we’ll keep going,” said Carvalho.
