Transitional living renovation

[projekktor id=’18964′]

Hundreds of women in this city do not have a safe and inviting space to call their own. They live on the streets, or in “transitional housing” which may be safe but may not be that inviting.

That was the case for Hamilton’s YWCA until very recently when the somewhat tired, 65 room women’s residence, got a $400 000 face-lift, with a twist.

Steve Stipsits and Branthaven Homes, they and more than a hundred other partners in the building trades, stepped up to undertake the $400 000 renovation, free of charge. “Actually what inspired me was a news item that we saw on CH news, on the evening news one time. I watched and I listened to the women explain how their lives were completely turned around from living on a park bench, or living in an abusive home and right away my wife and I, Elizabeth said we gotta get behind this.”

But getting to take a seat in the inviting new common room, didn’t come without it’s challenges. “It was quite an undertaking and a leap of faith on the part of the women in transitional houses, to give up their spaces and trust us to house them.” Says Medora Uppal from the YWCA

Helping not only to bring this project together, but in doing so, helping women bring their lives together too.