Hope changes everything.

That’s the message for the YWCA Saskatoon’s $19 million fundraising campaign called Hope Lives Here.

CEO Cara Bahr considers this the biggest highlight for the YWCA in 2023.

Since 2020, the demand for services has increased.

Bahr says in 2022, they were forced to turn away 4,253 women and children from the Crisis Shelter and Residence and when they are forced to turn a woman away, they don’t know where she goes.

The decision was made to take action, so in September the capital campaign was launched with three critical priorities.

The first is a 35-unit, 71-bed expansion of second stage housing at the crisis shelter, more than doubling its capacity.

The second is repairing and renovating the current building which needs a new roof and their third is expanding the Employment and Learning Centre, to help clients learn the critical skills they need to obtain sustainable employment.
Construction has begun on the new units for the Crisis Shelter & Residence and it’s expected to be done by next December.

More information is available here.