Photo courtesy Colton Mckee

By Chantal Wagner

Women’s shelter encourages those having a difficult time to reach out

Apr 29, 2020 | 2:34 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB -With more time being spent at home it might not necessarily be the safest place for some.

The Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter is open as they’re an essential service.

Executive Director Natasha Carvalho believes some of the struggles in this temporary normal right now is that everyone is at home.

And that’s causing extra stress in family situations.

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She says it’s even more so when family violence is already occurring.

Carvalho says the kids are home from school and partners might be working from home or were laid off.

She encourages those having a difficult time to reach out to the shelter because they don’t want someone staying home in an unsafe situation.

Or if you just need someone to talk to.

“Sometimes when we have these added stresses it tends to exacerbate in an already stretched situation and so while we’re not seeing the numbers increase in our shelter numbers just yet, we are worried that that’s because families are home together and that people aren’t able to make those phone calls or reach out for help as they can.”

Carvalho says they’re seeing quite a bit of calls in their outreach services so they’re seeing people who have been able to ask for help.

She believes some of them are people they’ve already been working with, which is great to see.

Meantime, Carvalho says adults are trying to make sense of it all, as well as kids.

“It’s hard, they’re used to being out with their friends and often for a lot of our kids school was their safe place and that’s where they got fed. That’s where people could see them and keep an eye on them and so sometimes that’s not happening now. “We’re really trying to check in with our kids and making sure they’re doing okay at home.”

The Women’s Shelter is reaching out to people in different ways as well like text, Zoom, and Facebook Live for kids.

Carvalho thanks the community for being generous during this time as they’ve received sanitizer and cloth masks.

With the money from the provincial and federal governments, the Women’s Shelter was also able to purchase personal protective equipment.

More information on the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society can be found by visiting their website.