Maison Interlude House (MIH), The women’s shelter serving Prescott and Russell and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry counties continues with its plans for second stage housing to serve its clients. However, no government funding has yet been allocated.
In January 2023, MIH’s application from the federal Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), was rejected and there has been no further progress since that time in the effort to secure funding. According to MIH, it is a sign that the housing crisis has undeniably taken hold in the region, and is a situation that can have dramatic consequence for women victims of violence.
“Since the pandemic, the average stay of a woman in our shelter has more than doubled. Some women stay in our shelter for a year! Last year, we sheltered 40 women and their children, but we had to turn down 86 women cause the shelter was full! That’s unheard of. What happened to these 86 women? Chances are they stayed with their abuser,” said MIH Executive Director Muriel Lalonde in a press release.
MIH has mandated a firm specializing in affordable housing to return to the feasibility study stage for the second stage housing plan. The plan is being revised to build a 41-unit building, half of which would be dedicated to women victims of violence.
“We need units that will be rented at market rates to finance this construction. We’re talking about a project costing over $10 million, which MIH will have to assume almost on its own, since no funding sources are available. But is it really up to our organization to make such a financial commitment? It begs the question. But in the meantime, women’s lives are at risk. We have to take action,” Lalonde said.
In 2022, the Township of Russell offered to sell land at cost, to MIH to use as a site for the second-stage housing project. That land represented an in-kind contribution of $470,000. Since then, MIH has taken ownership of the land and had the zoning of the property amended.
