Halton Women’s Place

Halton Women’s Place is the only women’s shelter for abused women and their children. Last year alone, HWP assisted 113 women and 113 children in their residential (in shelter) program. The average occupancy rate for Milton was 88% and 93% for Burlington. However, HWP operated for many months over 100% capacity. Our staff received 2167 crisis calls.

 Typically, we are at capacity–but then COVID-19 happened. And while most of us were isolated in our homes–bored, frustrated, afraid of the unknown, many women and children in our community were facing increased violence and abuse with NO safe space to make that call, to reach out, to escape their abuser. Every move watched. No excuse to leave the house. STUCK. IN DANGER. FOR MONTHS.

 Halton Women's Place saw its crisis call numbers drop drastically by 50% starting in March when lockdown started, and this continued through until the first half of June.

When Halton Region entered Stage 2, these numbers started to increase and by the last week of July, after the move to Stage 3, the calls had doubled and risen above what HWP’s call volume had been in February.