Cornerstone Housing for Women has purchased a new housing residence at 44 Eccles Street, which will be a place to call home for 46 women and gender-diverse people. “We couldn’t be more thrilled, after the year we had and the rise in women needing affordable, supportive housing in Ottawa,” Sarah Davis, executive director of Cornerstone, told Crosstalk just before we went to press in May. Stay tuned for more details about the new residence.
Cornerstone faced unprecedented pressures in the past year. Aside from the pandemic, the emergency shelter had to move while Cornerstone’s O’Connor Street building was renovated, and just when the women were able to move back to O’Connor, the building was surrounded by the infamous protest in downtown Ottawa for three weeks.
Now, however, Davis said, Cornerstone has had a “reprieve and there is a sense of hope across the organization. This spring Cornerstone focused on providing trauma-informed training for staff across our organization, offering sessions on anti-racism, anti-oppression, gender-based violence, and harm reduction. Throughout the pandemic, staff had to navigate various crises with little time for training or reprieve. On our path of recovery and healing from these past two years, we remain committed to equipping our staff with the knowledge and tools needed to care for vulnerable women in Ottawa.”
Cornerstone is also planning to host an in-person meet and greet with Davis, who came on at the height of the pandemic and outbreaks and has not been able to meet many people in person yet. Please Save the Date July 16 and watch for more information closer to the date.
Deanery of East Ontario — Church of the Nativity, L’Orignal