Saskatoon shelter for women and children temporarily closed after COVID outbreak

A shelter for women and children in Saskatoon is closed for at least two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Six people at the YWCA — a group that includes staff and residents — have recently tested positive for the virus.

CEO Cara Bahr said the YWCA had to close because it doesn’t have enough staff to operate a 24/7 facility effectively.

Eighteen people have been relocated into other temporary housing. Other community agencies and organizations including the Saskatchewan Health Authority have helped to find those individuals temporary homes.

The YWCA crisis shelter offers shelter, support, counselling and food for women and children who are struggling with domestic violence, homelessness, mental health or addiction.

Bahr says it’s already a very crucial time of year for officials at the YWCA. Their calls for help with domestic violence situations have increased compared to at the beginning of the pandemic.

“We are definitely struggling in terms of the volume of requests for our services,” she said. “When the pandemic started and we went into lockdown, we were finding that we didn’t have a significant number of domestic violence calls. They had dropped off significantly, but that was likely because women couldn’t get away from their abusers.”

Those with COVID will reach the end of their 14-day isolation period on Dec. 28 and the YWCA hopes to reopen at that time.

In the meantime, those in crisis are urged to contact 211 for information on shelters, child care, food security and financial help.