Construction on a new safe house for women and children fleeing family violence has begun on Lake Babine Nation’s Woyenne Indian Reserve, in the center of Burns Lake along Highway 16.
Here is Executive Director of Carrier Sekani Family Services, Mary Teegee, with her take on the project.
“There are not a lot of services provided for families fleeing violence along the Highway of Tears and we wanted to change that. We applied for this grant a while back and are happy to receive the funding. We’ve worked really hard to get this service in the region and are happy to see it come to fruition.”
Teegee says this safe house stretches further than just helping women fleeing violence.
“It’s about keeping families together. When violence or domestic disputes happen within a home, a lot of the time mothers are separated from their kids. This creates a lifetime of difficulties. We want to be more proactive and take a healthier approach to this by allowing families to stay connected. We want to provide a wraparound service that applies to all the needs of the families that come to us.”
As mentioned, construction for the new safe house has already begun and is tentatively set to open in March, of 2019. The new home will have 7 rooms that can fit up to 23 occupants. Services that will be provided are proper living accommodations, as well as, other support systems to get those residents back on their feet.
Teegee says the plan for services provided in the safe house will be worked on until they open their doors in 2019.