Centretown-based women's shelter, Interval House, is one step closer to moving into a new building in Ottawa South after a Superior Court of Justice ruling upheld its permit to build at the new location.
Interval House is a shelter for abused women who are fleeing domestic violence. The shelter has operated for 35 years at the Centretown location, but executive director Karen MacInnis says the move is necessary to better serve women in Ottawa.
"Our present home is not great for women with children, because of the stairs, so the new house won't have the stairs and it'll be easier for the women to move around with their family," she says. The stairs also mean the current building is not accessible, which MacInnis says is another major problem.
The new building will be fully accessible. It will have room for 10 women and 20 children, an upgrade from the current shelter which holds 10 women and 10 children.
MacInnis says the plan is to completely relocate into Ottawa South and decide what to do with the Centretown building by December.
MacInnis says that ideally the current location would continue to be used as a shelter for women without children, women who have been trafficked, or women who face other special challenges. However, she says the main obstacle to that plan is the amount it would cost to operate two shelters.
For now, MacInnis says she is glad the judge's ruling on the building permit won’t be an obstacle. "We're very very happy with his decision because that means we don't have to look for a new location," she says.
Residents near the Ottawa South location appealed the permit the shelter was granted because of concerns that this type of shelter doesn't meet land-use bylaws for the area and that it could bring violent men into the neighbourhood.
Justice Charles Hackland, who heard the case, acknowledged the applicants' concerns, but ultimately decided in the shelter's favour. "Notwithstanding the applicants’ persuasive argument, I am not prepared to give effect to it," he ruled. Hackland concluded that Ottawa's chief building official had made the correct decision in granting the permit, and upheld Interval House's right to move to the new location.
Donna Watson-Elliott, at the victim crisis unit of the Ottawa Police Service, says she thinks the move is "going to be amazing."
"Anything that improves the ability of women and children to be safe and comfortable there will make it more welcoming and more inviting for women to actually want to make that move," she says.
Watson-Elliott worked at another Ottawa women's shelter, Nelson House, for 10 years before she joined the police unit. She says she's heard the concerns neighbours expressed before.
"I think there's often that concern that a shelter impacts the community in a negative way, but that's very much a misperception that that's going to happen," she says.
"In fact, I think it can add to the community, and to the women staying there by being in a safe location in a community," she added.