AhlulBayt News Agency

source : CBC News
Sunday

20 November 2022

7:57:22 AM
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Atlantic Canada's 1st transition house for Muslim women and children opens in Halifax

Atlantic Canada's first transition house specifically for Muslim women and children fleeing domestic violence or homelessness opened this month in Halifax, and was celebrated with a grand opening ceremony at the Ummah Masjid Mosque on Friday.

AhlulBayt News Agency: Atlantic Canada's first transition house specifically for Muslim women and children fleeing domestic violence or homelessness opened this month in Halifax, and was celebrated with a grand opening ceremony at the Ummah Masjid Mosque on Friday.

The Ummah Society and Nisa Homes, a national non-profit charity, partnered to open the shelter and a new resource centre to serve the Muslim community in the region.

Yasmine Youssef, the program director at Nisa Homes, said the idea to open a transition house in Halifax has been in the works for almost five years, but the demand for its services has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

"At the end of last year, we were just like, 'OK, now we need to make it happen,'" Youssef said.

"Especially we saw with COVID the numbers for domestic violence significantly increased and then also we're seeing now with the economic situation, a lot of homelessness and a lot of just people struggling to get by."

The shelter caters to immigrant, refugee, non-status or Muslim women, and will be able to accommodate up to 12 women and children, who can stay for up to three months at a time.

Once they do move out, they'll also have access to remote support for three more months. Youssef said the goal is to get the women back on their feet and living a fulfilling life.

The transition house in Halifax is the ninth of its kind in Canada. Youssef said each home costs around $250,000 per year to run, and this is expected to grow to $350,000 with rising costs.

She said this is funded by community donations.

The Atlantic Muslim Resource Centre will also help families access things like counselling, financial support, mental health services and parental support.


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