Home away from home serves Native women

Page 16

Frances Weaselfat can count the number of transition homes run by Native people primarily for Native people on one hand.

"I'm only aware of three Native-run transition homes in Canada," she said.

One of those homes is located in Lethbridge. Weaselfat has been executive director for the Native Women's Transition Home Society for the past two years. The transition home, nestled in a residential area of the city, began operating in August 1994 amidst protests from its neighbors.

"The neighbors had stereotypical concerns," said Weaselfat, who herself became involved with the project in 1994. "They were worried about drunken men dragging women down the street; about their property values going down; about too many people hanging around."

City council, on the other hand, was supportive of the venture.

"We had no trouble getting zoning," she said. "They held a couple of hearings with the neighbors and reviewed a petition signed by some of the residents within a 14-block radius of the house."

Once the home began operating, neighbors' fears were alleviated.

"It wasn't even a year before our neighbors had changed their attitude," said Weaselfat.

The home came about as a result of a study undertaken by Brenda Many Fingers, who was doing a course at the University of Lethbridge studying the needs of Native women in the city. Many Fingers determined there was a group of Native women that was not being reached. Abused women could access the shelter in Lethbridge (and now one in nearby Pincher Creek), but women who weren't abused but who couldn't make a go of it in the city had nowhere to turn.

Many Fingers spearheaded a group that included both women who had had difficulties in Lethbridge and women who provided support and counselling. The transition home society was then formed. The report was completed in 1990, but it took four more years until the society had the transition home open and ready to accept its first clients.

The home is set up for eight families, with the largest suite able to accommodate a mother with four children. Priority is given to mothers with children, but single women are also welcome and there has been the occasion where non-Native women have been housed in emergency situations. While many of the users come from the two nearby reserves, Blood and Peigan, Weaselfat noted that women from other parts of the province and even some from Quebec have stayed in the home.

As well, she pointed out, the transition home works closely with Harbour House, the women's shelter in Lethbridge, as the second step for women who have left abusive situations.

Women can be self-referred, although most are referred through a service agency, such as Social Services.

The home not only provides an unlimited amount of time for shelter (the average stay is six months), it also provides services to help women get on their feet. Women can either be referred to counsellors in the community or resource people can be brought in to deal with such life skill issues as budgeting, housekeeping, health, personal hygiene, coping, discipline, and self-esteem.

Counselling can be carried out in the contemporary fashion or traditionally, with Elders available to help. The transition home also allows return stays.

For Native women seeking accommodations in Lethbridge, it's a double-edged sword. First there's the concern of knowing how to handle finances on their own and secondly there's the combination of racism and the shortage of affordable housing.

"There's not enough affordable housing for all," said Weaselfat, "not just Natives. But if an Indian is going to compete for a unit with a non-Indian, you know who's going to get the unit."

While Weaselfat isn't claiming a 100 per cent success rate with her clients, she is proud to say that a lot of women who've been through the home have acquired accommodations in the city or back on the reserve, and are attending school or working.

Plans to expand the transition home are in the works. In the unflding year, Weaselfat, who's presently the only employee, will be joined on staff by a full-time program coordinator and part-time secretary. As well, daycare service on site will be provided when the Native Head Start program (aimed at culturally grounding pre-school aged children) relocates to its own building.

"The home is serving its purpose by meeting the immediate shelter needs of the family," said Weaselfat. "It'll take a while to assess the long-term benefits of the service in terms of how the past residents are doing out in the community."

A six-month outreach program provides former residents with support and counselling.

"Because they call back and ask us to be references for them, I see this as a positive thing," said Weaselfat. "We've given them a base, a grounding. We've also given them the ability to advocate for themselves."