So close and yet so far. That’s what attendees of the March 25 Interagency Council meeting learned about the imminence of Slave Lake’s emergency women’s shelter.
Northern Haven Support Society’s bid to have an operational shelter up and running has no real detractors, it seems, other than the looming specter of a lack of data.
But it’s this lack of hard numbers, real accountant and bureaucrat stuff, that just might make or break the deal. The Northern Haven Support Society hired consultant and former mayor Peter Moore to flesh out the numbers. But the task is not as easy as it may sound.
Moore’s approach seems necessarily pragmatic.
Up to this point, it has been easy for folks to agree with the idea, in principle.
For example, it’s hard to find someone who will say a shelter is a bad idea.
And yet, the road to an operational shelter, we have learned, is not paved with good intentions.
Consultant Moore’s task is to cut through the emotionally heavy subject matter and return with the crown jewels; real numbers that back up the proposal.
In what might be considered the first real steps of this process, a small questionnaire was distributed to attendees.
With just a few questions, the document speaks to the difficulty of harvesting the required information.
Question 1: Is there a need for a women’s shelter in Slave Lake? Common sense tells us there is, but question two asks us for evidence. And here is where the trail gets rocky.
Due to confidentiality, privacy and protection, a lot of the information folks like Moore might find useful is secured away, and for good reason. Data that is available on family violence issues is not entirely telling, either.
Victims often don’t seek help until well into the cycle of violence, making for an incomplete picture.
What everyone is sure about is that violence affecting women and families requires some form of defense.
Shelters offer a way for women in need to get the stability, protection and help they need to reassess their situation. Shelters are a bastion of sanity when everything else seems insane.
So where’s the problem, then?
Geography and demographics play into it. With a shelter in Wabasca and another in Sucker Creek, the government would like to know just how dire the situation is for Slave Lake.
Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee weighed in to remind people that as Slave Lake continues to grow, projections for that ‘in-growth’ should be factored in.
Mona Johnson of AADAC, like all the other folks at the meeting, tempered a willingness to help with practical insight. “There is not necessarily a correlation between alcoholism, for example, and abuse,” she said, though the two are not mutually exclusive.
Other factors to consider include distance to the safe homes and availability.
When shelters are located on reserve land, the priority for available beds goes to those who live on reserve. So far, in Slave Lake, hotels have stepped up to offer free accommodations for women in need. It’s a great gesture, but one that lacks the security and stability of a true shelter.
Overall, attendees at the meeting came up with some great leads for Moore to pursue, and he is reported to be “cautiously optimistic.” Ultimately, proponents of the project need to find out if the number of domestic abuse incidents around Slave Lake warrants a 24/7 staffed and supported home.
If that turns out to be the case and judging by the interest of the folks involved, there will be no shortage of people willing to help with the remaining steps of realizing the goal: A women’s emergency shelter for Slave Lake.

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