Genesis House’s new Clearwater Place is on track to open next year, the shelter for the survivors of domestic violence shared with project supporters last week.
Work on Clearwater Place, Genesis House’s new transitional housing complex in Winkler, is moving along nicely, the agency shared with supporters last week. Right: A look at what the completed complex will look like when it opens next year
Work is moving along full speed ahead on the 25-unit transitional housing complex going up in Winkler.
When it’s complete, it will provide safe, longer-term housing (one to two years) at a subsidized rate to woman trying to get back on their feet after leaving an abusive relationship. The facility will also offer support services and resources to help tenants develop skills needed to maintain employment, get established financially, become self-sufficient, and begin to cope with their trauma.
Ground was broken on the build last summer, and a great deal of progress has been made in the months since, shared Catherine Dahl, project manager with Bockstael Construction.
The last several months have seen crews get the foundation in place, install the steel framework for the two-storey building, and begin work on enclosing the facility.
Many of the larger-scale materials were pre-fabricated off-site and then could be put together like giant Lego sets to allow for faster progress through the winter months.
“The progress you see today, getting the project off the ground, establishing a strong structural base, and moving steadily into the work of construction is possible because of your support and your commitment,” Dahl stressed to the assembled community leaders.
Sophie Gerbrandt, who heads up community and resource development for Genesis House, echoed that statement, stressing it is only through community support that this dream has begun to become a reality.
Last fall, the agency announced it was looking to raise about $600,000 for the $15 million project, which has received funding commitments from various levels of government.
“Since the beginning of November, I am happy to share that we have raised approximately $250,000,” Gerbrandt said, noting it represents a host of personal donations as well as corporate support. “That is remarkable, so thank you. For us it’s a reminder that when people believe in something, they will take a step forward to help make it happen.
“Every gift, every sponsorship, every conversation we have shared about this project has helped us to get closer to the finish line.”
While they still have about $350,000 to go, Gerbrandt said they’re confident they’ll get there.
“While that is still a significant amount, we are very energized and committed to this final push,” she said, “because this final stage of fundraising is about more than the walls and the windows of the building—it’s about transforming this space into a home for the women and children who will stay with us.”
Each of the units will come fully furnished with everything a family who may have fled with little more than the clothes on their backs will need to thrive.
“Clearwater Place was never meant to be a sterile apartment complex,” Gerbrandt said. “It was designed as a place of comfort, a place of dignity for fresh beginnings.”
Only about 12 per cent of women leave Genesis House’s emergency shelter for their own housing. The rest remain temporarily housed or return to their abusers for a lack of other options.
“We’re already getting one or two inquiries a week asking to go on the wait list,” Gerbrandt said, noting they have not opened that application process just yet. “So the need continues to be there, more than ever as housing prices continue to increase. We’re excited that this will be a reality in our area very soon.”
Genesis House has two major fundraising events coming up this fall that they hope will help push them over the top. The third annual Ride for Refuge will take place in October while the second annual radiothon airs in November.
You can also donate to the cause online at genesishouseshelter.ca or by mail to Box 389, Winkler, MB, R6W 4A6.
Gerbrandt said that they expect to be moving the first families into Clearwater Place in March of 2027.
“It impacts you”
Also speaking at last week’s project update was Peter Cantelon, who provided a personal insight into the importance stable, affordable housing can have for families fleeing abusive living situations.
Cantelon’s mother was 19 years old with two young children trying to provide and survive with very few supports.
“Relationships were not great. They were abusive. They were violent,” he shared. “In my own experience and my sister’s, from basically the age of zero until about 12, it was saturated in violence in the household. Physical violence, emotional violence.
“You don’t really forget that. It impacts you. It’s generational. And I think it’s important to understand that as valuable as a shelter is, what Clearwater Place is going to provide is miles beyond the valuable services that Genesis House has already been providing.
“Clearwater Place brings wraparound supports, services, safe and affordable housing to women who have been traumatized beyond our capability to understand, and any associated children,” Cantelon said.
It wasn’t until his mother qualified for housing assistance that he and his sister finally had a place to call home, and stability in which to feel safe.
“With that, things transformed,” Cantelon said. “Housing is the fundamental stabilizing factor in anyone’s life. Most of us take it for granted.”
The transitional housing Clearwater Place will provide families will change lives, Cantelon stressed, leaving behind an impact that will live on for generations.
“It will provide the foundation to be able to secure more long-term, safe, affordable housing, life skills that can then be brought into place to ensure that these things can be continued,” he said. “It really is community change … this is as proactive as you can get in the lives of women who have been traumatized again and again and again, and the children who may be a part of that journey.”
