Our History

25 Years and Counting
The History of the Women and Children’s Shelter (barrie)
It’s difficult to remember many of the specific events that took place 25 years ago, as our shelter struggled to find its way. For certain, times were tough financially, the public perception and understanding of wife assault was minimal and our community was unreceptive to the idea that we even had women in our community in need of shelter and protection from their abusive spouses.

The police on the other hand, were reluctant to respond to domestic calls and when they did, they were often uncertain about how to help the abused woman and unaware of emergency services in the area. Women were encouraged to keep the family together at all cost and work out any of these “private” issues within the confines of their home.  Police required the woman to lay charges herself but as you might expect, she often recanted out of fear and intimidation and refused to cooperate in testifying against him in court.  

It seems that our community and the police were not alone in their insensitivity to the issues of violence against women.  In 1980, male Members of Parliament laughed in the House of Commons at the subject of wife beating, uttering comments like “ l don’t beat my wife, do you?”  The ill-mannered behaviour of Tory and Liberal MP’s, forced Ottawa to act quickly in preparing an all-party federal report that made violence against women, the funding of women’s shelter and special police training, issues of national importance.

In 1981, a group of concerned Barrie citizens successfully acquired a grant from the Ministry of Employment and Immigration Canada, to set up a shelter/safe haven for abused women and children. They also negotiated a lease with the Sisters of St. Joseph to rent us their convent at 83 Berczy Street, as a home for our new shelter.  Little did we know that our use of that property would be seen as non-conforming with City By-laws and result in future legal action.   

Following a much-publicized Ontario Municipal Board hearing and considerable media attention, it was with smiles and sighs of relief, that supporters of the Crisis Centre in Barrie, heard the verdict of Judge S.W. Long on Wednesday May 12, 1982, that the Crisis Center was not violating a Barrie zoning bylaw.  This was the first legal day of operation for the Crisis Centre.

Time passed quickly in our new premises and although we loved this aging Victorian home, the truth was, the Shelter was inadequate in size, costly to maintain and lacking in security and safety for our residents.  It would only be a matter of time before a move to larger premises was inevitable.

In February of 1988, as a first step in alleviating some of the pressures on our Shelter, we opened a Satellite Office in downtown Barrie. This community-based outreach program offered legal assistance, information, referral and court support in addition to outreach counselling.

In October of 1989, we learned that our request to build a new Shelter had been answered by a promise of capital funds from the Ministry of Community and Social Services.  What a joyous day that proved to be, or so we thought.  Unfortunately, this promise came with strings attached. In order to receive our $1.2 million dollar allocation, the Board of Directors needed to raise over $200,000 as their financial commitment to the project.

I will never forget the lengthy Board planning meetings, our door-to-door campaigns, the letters of request to service clubs, our attempts to plead with various banks or our willingness to sign promissory notes in an attempt to reach our financial goal.

Although we thought it impossible, in February of 1991, amid much excitement and chaos, we moved into our new “home”.  One of our first residents said, “did the Shelter win the lottery” and yes, I believe, we all felt we did.

By 1998, we knew we had to address the on-going confusion that existed between our Crisis Centre and other social services in Barrie that used the word Crisis in their name.  We were getting calls for every imaginable crisis service in Barrie, women who needed us were going to the wrong facility and even our monthly Ministry allocations were being misdirected.  It was official; in early 1999 our new name was The Women & Children’s Shelter (barrie).

Since 1991, we have continued to grow and flourish.  Each year we provide emergency shelter for over 400 women and children and have assisted over 9000 women and children in our Shelter Program since opening.   We now employ a staff of nearly 20 full and part-time employees offering emergency shelter, counselling, support, transportation, information, referral and advocacy.

Our Satellite Office assists over 600 new clients each and every year and has proven to be one of our most successful programs.  

Last year, the Provincial Government introduced a new Transitional and Housing Support Program to assist women in establishing lives separate from their abusers. This program offers women the assistance they require in finding and securing affordable housing.  It also provides women with assistance in leaving the Shelter, referrals to other services in the community, as well as help in identifying barriers to their success.  

Although we’re most grateful for this new Transitional and Housing Support Program, its important to remember that we’re not 100% funded by government and it’s the first of any new programs or dollars in over a decade. Still more importantly, each time the government changes, we’re at risk of losing what we may have gained and compromising the importance of one program over another.  

As I sit back and reminisce on my 25 years as Executive Director of this wonderful organization, I think of the thousands of women and children that we have helped along the way.  I so hope their lives have changed for the best. I also think of our staff and the fact that many of them have over 20 years of experience and are just as committed and devoted to this issue of violence against women, as they ever were.

Most of all, I’m grateful for the change in community attitudes, the enhanced education and awareness about woman abuse, the criminalization of this issue, the enhanced training, sensitivity and co-operation of the police, the new programs that help women attain affording housing and the willingness of the community to help.   

November is Wife Assault Prevention Month. The United Nations proclaimed November 25th as The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  November also marks the beginning of our 25th year of service to our community.

There have been many occasions when I have been asked to share our “story” and the details of our humble beginnings with the community.  

I can’t think of a better time to tell it than now!

Sylvia Patfield
Executive Director