Kelowna Women's Shelter

Kelowna Women’s Shelter offers free help, 24 hours a day

The third week of April is Prevention of Violence against Women Week in British Columbia. As part of its efforts to focus attention on the ongoing issue of family violence, and galvanize the community to take action to help prevent it, the Kelowna Women’s Shelter submitted this article we are proud to publish.

Unless you’ve lived it, it’s almost impossible to imagine what it must be like to experience family violence and abuse.

Imagine your partner slammed out of the house after shouting, raging, and calling you names. No matter how hard you try, you can’t avert his verbal attacks.

Imagine you have just gotten a call from your partner saying he's on his way home and “You are going to get what you deserve”.  Last time he said that, he beat you so viciously you thought you might die while your children cowered in the next room.

Imagine knowing you must leave your home with your children, perhaps within a matter of minutes - but you have no way to leave and nowhere to go and no money to pay for anything. What would you do? Who would you call?

When a woman experiencing violence and abuse reaches out for help, it is essential the services she needs are immediately accessible and available, and that they adequately meet her needs and the needs of her children.

The Kelowna Women’s Shelter opened its doors 34 years ago to provide services to women and children whose lives have been impacted by family violence, abuse and significant trauma or crisis. Kelowna Women’s Shelter staff and services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and everything is confidential and free of charge. 

The primary objective of the Kelowna Women’s Shelter is to offer women and children safety and an opportunity to create a future free of violence and abuse. In practical terms, this necessitates a continuum of counseling and support services designed to meet the needs of women at any stage of dealing with violence and abuse within a relationship.

Accessing Kelowna Women’s Shelter services is as simple as making a phone call.  An initial call can provide validation, support, information, referrals, help with decision-making and safety planning, or when necessary, immediate transportation to a safe location.

The Kelowna Women’s Shelter provides, most importantly, a safe, confidential setting in which women and children benefit from the compassion, respect and non-judgmental support of a knowledgeable staff. 

Women and children can access non-residential services including group and individual counseling and support, referrals and advocacy. 

If a woman (and her kids) need a safe place to stay, they can be assured of a clean welcoming household, food, transportation, caring childcare staff in a well-stocked playroom, and counselors offering crisis intervention counseling, referrals to other community resources, advocacy, accompaniment to court or appointments, and group and individual counseling. 

Long-term support, follow-up visits, and outreach services are also available to assist a woman and her children in transitioning to a new life free from abuse.

The range of services available make it possible for a woman to move beyond a life of violence and abuse to a future free of violence, and full of hope.

If you need help or know someone who does, please call the Kelowna Women’s Shelter at 250 763-1040.  Help is available.

The Kelowna Women’s Shelter is a non-profit organization that offers emergency transitional housing, counseling, support and education to women and their children who have experienced abuse. For more information, or to make a donation, visit kelownawomensshelter.ca or call 250-763-1040.