OLDS — Mountain View Emergency Shelter Society (MVESS) president Joe Carignan is hopeful a fundraiser on May 12 will put the society in a position where it can begin building – or renovating a shelter for clients next spring.
That fundraiser is a radiothon, hosted by Royal LePage Wildrose Real Estate. It will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. that day on 96.5 CKFM.
Organizers say 100 per cent of donations will go toward the goal of raising money for a shelter for adults and children to escape domestic violence.
To donate, visit rlp.ca/radiothon or call Royal LePage Wildrose Real Estate at 403-556-6500.
Donations of $20 or more are tax deductible, organizers say. They will be receipted by the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation next February.
The MVESS is currently negotiating with the Town of Olds on a site for a building. If that doesn’t pan out, the society would be willing to purchase and renovate an existing structure.
Ideally what Carignan would like to see is a building that can accommodate two bedrooms, a common kitchen and a common area perhaps a counselling room and boardroom/classroom.He said another nice feature would be an office for staff.
Over time, they’d build out from an initial structure as needs arose.
Carignan figures they’ll need $300,000 to $400,000 to start on the project.
During an interview, he said the society is nearly halfway to that goal right now. A suitcase party fundraiser held two years ago – again by Royal Lepage Wildrose, raised about $33,000 for the cause. A fundraiser planned for last spring was cancelled, due to the pandemic. Organizers are hoping this year's event will bring in another $50,000.
“I mean, funding is the biggest thing because at this time, there’s no capital grants, so we have to raise any of the funds to build one or purchase one,” Carignan said.
Carignan is pleased that Royal LePage Wildrose Real Estate is hosting the radiothon.
“I think it’s an excellent opportunity to bring awareness to the community on the need for a shelter and of course to raise some money so we can build one. We’ve been working on it for a number of years," he said.
Carignan said he would have liked to see construction on the facility begin this year, but the skyrocketing cost of building materials due to the pandemic put the kibosh on that idea. He figures they’ve roughly tripled during the last year or so.
He said even if they were able to afford to start now, the demand for materials makes that virtually impossible.
“I got different feelers out I would say, and if we were going to pour concrete, they’re already booked ‘till the fall,” Carignan said. “So realistically, I’d like to get started on it next year, because I see a whole bunch of hurdles in the way this year.”
Carignan says the need for a shelter in Olds is huge. He said over the past year, their outreach worker has seen her caseload rise about 200 per cent. He believes that’s a direct result of pandemic restrictions and the strife they can create.
"I think they’re spending a lot more time together,” he said. “We have to get them somewhere safe; that’s the biggest thing.”
Carignan said because there currently is no emergency shelter in Olds, people who need to leave domestically violent environments have to go to places as far away as Red Deer and Strathmore.
“We have clients, so there are a number of programs that we offer and of course, whether it’s a danger awareness situation, because a lot of people contact us and it takes a number of steps before they’re in a position to leave the relationship,” he added.
“The stats say most people go back seven times before they leave. So a lot of times we have people who reach out to us for different things, ‘what do I do here,’ ‘what do I do there?’”
MVESS was formed in 2006. Carignan has been on its board of directors for about three years.
