Mariam El-Behiry
In the last three months, Cornerstone Housing for Women has moved to a temporary location on Booth Street. This will better serve the 125 women who have been affected by the pandemic and the colder weather.
During the pandemic, Cornerstone’s emergency shelter program has expanded by 102 percent. Its newest project, nicknamed Project One, is a continuum of care under one roof. The project will encompass supportive housing, transitional housing and emergency welcoming beds.
Cornerstone provides emergency shelter and safe affordable permanent housing for women in Ottawa. Additionally, a gender-diverse staff and a team of about 160 volunteers offers counselling services and assistance toward independence. Its programs and services include individual case management and address addictions, recreational needs, mental health problems, spiritual supports and more.
Alaina, a former resident, found shelter at Cornerstone when she was 23 years old. A year later, she moved to Cornerstone’s MacLaren residence, one of their supportive housing residences. Now Alaina has a home of her own in Centretown and is passionate about spreading Cornerstone’s mission.
“Cornerstone is helping end the mental health stigma. I was healing from a sexual assault and I was able to connect to a counsellor and resources for support. The mental health care at Cornerstone was better than any other shelter I stayed at. I didn’t feel like I was being thrown in the deep end. I found myself in tears in the office a lot,” she said.
After leaving supportive housing, Alaina joined the outreach program where she was able to maintain the connections she had made with staff and residents before moving into independent living. She said, “At first it was a hard transition from supportive housing but I think I have found support in the community, and I can connect with my own therapist. When I am having a hard day, my outreach worker will pick me up and we will go on a walk with my dog, Stewart. If I need to talk, I know that I can go over to Cornerstone and have a chat instead of suffering in silence.”
New executive director started with a temporary shelter move
Sarah Davis started as Cornerstone’s executive director in January. She comes from the Elizabeth Fry Society and has devoted her career to helping vulnerable women. Davis says, “I’ve been working with women all my career in one way or another. I spent my younger years working with women exiting the criminal justice system, and the skills that I gathered were exactly what I needed to fulfill my role at Cornerstone. I also have my own experience with PTSD that connects me with the women we serve.”
Sarah has had to help Cornerstone transition from the O’Connor shelter to a larger temporary location to accommodate the increase in women in need of emergency shelter and services during COVID-19.
“Moving a shelter and all the pieces that go along with it is quite an undertaking but the women and staff have embraced it. They are happy that all the resources they could need are under one roof. However, there have been more barriers to the housing transition due to COVID-19. Viewing new apartments or trying to get paperwork signed has become much more of a process.”
Cornerstone has not been able to open its doors to its dedicated volunteers due to the physical distancing restrictions. It has been supported instead throughout the pandemic by relief funding and community donations. The funds have been used for additional staffing costs such as time away from work, overtime and taxis due to reduced transit.
Currently, Cornerstone is preparing for its annual Purple Tie fundraising gala, which will be streamed live on the official Cornerstone Facebook page. Accessing in-kind donations from the Centretown community has not been possible due to the province-wide lockdown. Davis said that monetary donations have been vital in supporting Cornerstone’s sizable expansion during the pandemic. To donate: cornerstonewomen.ca/make-a-difference/donate