‘There’s nowhere to go’: Airdrie women’s shelter faces more delays

AIRDRIE (660 NEWS) – The wait for a women’s shelter in Airdrie will be longer than expected.

Airdrie POWER, the group behind getting the shelter built, said it’s dealing with red tape delays.

“We are still waiting for approval for our permits to start construction and with that, we are still behind about $40,000 for the cost of construction,” said Airdrie POWER President Crystal Boys.

This comes a day after a day after a surivor spoke out about her story of a domestic violence. She suffered life-altering injuries in a recent attack at her home in Airdrie..

WATCH: Airdrie domestic violence survivor speaks out

Boys believes the lack of a shelter in Airdrie is a contributing factor to the very high rate of domestic violence in the community.

“There’s nowhere to go, there’s no support systems. There are a couple agencies in town that do help and they have some programs available but it is nowhere near sufficient to deal with the actual problem. This city needs a facility that focuses solely on domestic violence.”

The organization says that other smaller communities like High River and Strathmore have shelters in place and don’t understand why Airdrie hasn’t stepped up to build one already.

“It’s absolutely absurd to think that a city our size doesn’t have the proper resources to deal with domestic violence. It’s quite surprising.”

Boys said that they have reached out several times for grants from the provincial and federal governments but haven’t received a dime.

They will be holding a couple fundraising events this summer but admit that might only scratch the surface.

“We need some large donations to come in in order for us to move forward.”

To find out more about giving to the shelter, you can visit the Airdrie POWER page on GoFundMe.

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