Women at Halifax shelter concerned by new 2-month stay policy amid housing crisis

Residents of a shelter for women fleeing domestic abusein Halifax were shocked when they received a letter in late September sayingthey hadtwo months to find permanent housing and leave Bryony House.

Some hadalready been living therefor six months to a yearwhile they searched for a safe andaffordable accommodations in a city with skyrocketing rents and one of the lowest vacancy ratesin the country.

CBC News spoke to four women connected to the shelter who are concerned about the policy.They've askedto remain anonymous, fearing for their safety.

If they have to leave before they find a new place to live, they said they fear becoming homeless or being forced to move back in with their abusers.

"I don't want to stay stuck in a cycle like this, but it's hard to see a way out," said one woman who has been staying in the shelter for months.

In September, CBC News reported thata lack of affordable housing wascausing backlogs in transition houses,leading to stays being extended up to a year across Nova Scotia.

Bryony House said its new policy is an attempt to get back to its original mandate of providing stays as long as six weeks, and to avoid turning women away because beds are full.

"The intent was never for this to be a permanent solution for anyone," said Bryony House executive director Monika Hintz."Because we need to be supporting people who are in the throes of experiencing intimate partner violence."

The letter sent to residents in September said extensions to the two-month policy will be considered on a case-by-case basis. But some residents are still worried.

"It was a move that made me feel like I was back in my house with my abuser," one woman said. "I wasn't the only one. A lot of women felt that way, and there were some that did go back."

The residents CBCNews spoke tosaid they want to leave the shelter, but it's challenging.

Itcan take years to get a spot in public housing.Other housing geared to income, includingfor women fleeing intimate partner violence, is full across the province.

"I had been looking for at least a year prior to even having to leave my ex-partner's home," anotherwoman said. "I've probably looked at at least 150 to 200 places just in the last couple of months."

Bryony House says rule isn't new

Bryony House is the largest women's shelter in the province, housing up to 36 women and children. Hintz said 40 women and 20 children are currently on the waitlist.

She said the housing crisis hascaused stays to creep up to the year mark or longer, but that isn't sustainable as demand for the shelter's services grows.

"This is a fairly common practice that does happen across the province, as well as across the country, atother shelters," Hintz said in an interview Friday.

"We also have to recognize the high demands. We have higher than normal call volume, along with an extensive waitlist."

Demand for services and shelter beds for women fleeing domestic abuse has been rising for yearsbut the pandemic pushed it over the edge, said Lise Martin,executive director of Women's Shelters Canada.

"Across the country, most shelters are almost every night at capacity," Martin said."So that means that they're having to turn women and children away on a daily basis."

Similar problems across Canada

Because there is "no housing" for women to go to, they're staying in shelters longer and that'scausing backlogsin urban and rural areas alike,Martin said.

"There's definitely a direct link between the lack of safe and affordable housing and domestic violence," Martinsaid. "In order for a woman to rebuild her life, to be able to secure a job, to take care of her children in the way that she wants to, she needs safe and affordable housing."

LastMarch, the Nova Scotia government announced an additional $8 million to help groups that support women experiencing gender-based violence to meet the increased demand for their services and address rising operating costs.

Nova Scotia Housing Minister John Lohralso said in a September interview that the province is "deeply sympathetic" to people fleeing domestic violence. They are placedat the top of the public housing wait-list, but still have to wait for a unit to become available.

As of January, the public housing priority-access wait-list, which included117 people across the province,had an average wait time of 1.6years. For the 4,790 people on thenon-priority list, theaverage waitis just over twoyears.

Hintz saidthe Halifax shelter has had luck finding accommodations for some women, and those who aren't able to find a rental by the two-month mark could get an extension. But she knows that's not a permanent solution.

"The only answer, it's what everyone else would sayit's more housing," Hintz said.

Thewomen staying at the shelter who CBC News spoke to echoed that plea.

"If something is wrong, you have to say something," one of them said. "Not a lot of people do that these days, and that's what the world needs. We need housing, we need resources for abused women."

People in Nova Scotia affected by intimate partner violence cancall or text the provincial toll-free line at 1-855-225-0220or contacttheir local shelter organization.