A transitional housing building in Bancroft for women and children fleeing abuse is on pace to open this spring.
The project won’t end an overall homelessness issue in the town, but it’s a step in the right direction and represents a monumental shift for long-time Bancroft agency Maggie’s Resource Centre.
Executive Director Tanya MacKinnon says the project – made possible by a $500,000 federal grant received last June – will have two apartments, administrative space and meeting space, all out of a newly renovated building on Cleak Avenue.
“What this new transitional housing unit will provide is an opportunity to be able to stay in your own community, to continue on with work, with children’s schooling, with being able to attend medical appointments and not have to leave town,” MacKinnon says.
“It will provide a woman an opportunity to have a place to go, when the other alternative might be to stay in an unsafe and abusive situation. Will it prevent tent city? I don’t think so, but it meets the potential homelessness needs for women facing different issues.”
MacKinnon says the project is a positive sign that there is funding available for homelessness issues and good things can happen when an agency advocates for itself.
